# Cursor vs Visual Studio

| Attribute | Cursor | Visual Studio |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 45.7 (69% (medium)) | 50.4 (55% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Cursor is an AI coding agent that combines IDE capabilities with autonomous agents to help developers build software. It streamlines development workflows across desktop, CLI, and cloud platforms. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.","source":"https://www.cursor.com","question":"What is Cursor?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Cursor offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $20 per month. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.cursor.com","question":"Is Cursor free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Cursor supports the web, Windows and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.cursor.com","question":"What platforms does Cursor support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Cursor, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.cursor.com","question":"Can Cursor be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 for Cursor. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Cursor not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.cursor.com/security","question":"What security certifications does Cursor have?","confidence":0.7}]` | `[{"answer":"Comprehensive integrated development environment for .NET and C++ development with AI-powered assistance, integrated debugging, testing, and CI/CD integration. Available as Visual Studio IDE for Windows and macOS, plus Visual Studio Code for cross-platform web development. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"What is Visual Studio?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Visual Studio offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $45 per user per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"Is Visual Studio free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Visual Studio supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"What platforms does Visual Studio support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Visual Studio can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"Can Visual Studio be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An AI-assisted development environment with desktop and CLI interfaces that uses codebase indexing and AI models to help generate code, complete tasks, and integrate with developer tools. | An integrated development environment providing tools for coding, debugging, testing, and deploying software across multiple programming languages and platforms, with support for cloud services, version control, and AI-assisted development. |
| features.capabilities | `{"type":"full_ide","builtin_ai":"native","deployment":"both","os_support":"Windows","remote_dev":true,"open_source":"closed","extensibility":"marketplace","pricing_model":"subscription","language_scope":"polyglot","git_integration":true,"code_intelligence":"ide_grade","architecture_model":"standalone_ide_fork_cursor","multi_file_diff_generation_and_automated_apply":true,"workspace_indexing_and_semantic_codebase_search":true,"terminal_bash_execution_and_self_correction_loops":true}` | `{"type":"full_ide","builtin_ai":"native","deployment":"desktop","os_support":"Windows, macOS, Linux","remote_dev":true,"open_source":"closed","base_platform":"original","extensibility":"marketplace","language_scope":"polyglot","git_integration":true,"code_intelligence":"ide_grade","integrated_debugger":true}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"GitHub"}]` | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"GitHub Actions","native":true,"category":"ci_cd","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Application Insights","native":true,"category":"monitoring","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Team Foundation Server","native":true,"category":"version_control","direction":"bidirectional"}]` |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true}` | `{"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Hobby","summary":"Free","features":["Limited Agent requests","Access to Composer","No credit card required"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/mo","features":["Extended limits on Agent","Generous limits for Grok & Composer","Access to frontier models","MCPs, skills, and hooks","Cloud agents","Bugbot on usage-based billing"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Pro+","features":["3x Pro limits on Agent","Generous limits for Grok & Composer","Access to frontier models","MCPs, skills, and hooks","Cloud agents","Bugbot on usage-based billing"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Ultra","features":["20x Pro limits on Agent","Generous limits for Grok & Composer","Access to frontier models","MCPs, skills, and hooks","Cloud agents","Bugbot on usage-based billing","Priority access to new features"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Standard","summary":"$40/user/mo","features":["Centralized team billing and administration","Team marketplace for internal rules, skills, and plugins","Agentic code reviews with Bugbot","Cloud agents and automations with shared team context","Usage analytics to understand team behavior","Team-wide privacy mode","SAML/OIDC SSO"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":40,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Premium","features":["5x Standard limits on Agent","Centralized team billing and administration","Team marketplace for internal rules, skills, and plugins","Agentic code reviews with Bugbot","Cloud agents and automations with shared team context","Usage analytics to understand team behavior","Team-wide privacy mode","SAML/OIDC SSO"],"commitment":"monthly","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["Pooled usage","Invoice/PO billing","SCIM seat management","Repository, model, and MCP access controls","Auto-run, browser, and network controls","Audit logs and service accounts","AI code tracking API","Priority support and account management"],"contactSales":true}],"summary":"Hobby free, Pro $20/mo, Teams $40/user/mo, Enterprise custom","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.cursor.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-01T15:16:05.790Z","startingPrice":{"amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Community","summary":"Free","features":["Full IDE capabilities for .NET and C++ development"],"description":"Best comprehensive IDE for .NET and C++ developers on Windows","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Professional standard","summary":"$99.99/user/mo (paid annually), renews at $66.59/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Professional","Azure DevOps (Basic plan)","$50 Azure credit per month","Basic dev/test software","Training and support"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":99.99,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise standard","summary":"$499.92/user/mo (paid annually), renews at $214.09/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Enterprise","Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan)","$150 Azure credit per month","Premium dev/test software","Extended training and support","Power BI Pro"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":499.92,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Professional monthly","summary":"$45/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Professional","Azure DevOps (Basic plan)"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":45,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise monthly","summary":"$250/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Enterprise","Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan)"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free Community edition; subscriptions from $45/user/mo to $499.92/user/mo","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T20:23:24.983Z","startingPrice":{"amount":45,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | mid | low |
| pricing.transparent | no | no |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |

## Capabilities (IDEs & Code Editors)

| Capability | Cursor | Visual Studio |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Type | Full IDE | Full IDE |
| Language scope | Polyglot | Polyglot |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Both | Desktop |
| **Platform support** |  |  |
| OS support | Windows | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Base platform | - | Original |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Extensibility | Extension marketplace | Extension marketplace |
| **DX** |  |  |
| LSP / DAP support | - | - |
| Remote / dev-containers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrated debugger / profiler | - | ✓ |
| Code intelligence depth | IDE-grade | IDE-grade |
| Built-in git integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| **AI** |  |  |
| Built-in AI | Native | Native |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Openness | Closed | Closed |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Pricing model | Per-seat subscription | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T17:47:08.790Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*