What is the best open-source alternative to Cursor?

The best open-source alternative to Cursor depends on the use case. The highest-PopScore candidates on GitPop are vscode, continue, zed.

Is Cursor open source?

No, Cursor is a closed-source product by Anysphere, Inc.. The open-source alternatives on this page are listed by GitPop PopScore (momentum, activity, and noise-filtered).

3 candidates

Open source alternatives to Cursor

AI-first code editor built on VS Code with deep LLM integration. · Anysphere, Inc.

Pricing: Free Hobby; Pro from $20/mo

Cursor and Copilot are the default AI-assisted editors in 2026. The fully open-source path is to use VS Code (with Continue or Cline as the AI agent) or Zed (Rust-native, fast, AI-integrated). VS Code + Continue is the most direct 'Cursor but free' option; Zed is the right pick for developers who want a Rust-native editor with first-class AI features.

The 3 candidates, ranked by PopScore

#01microsoft/vscode
The default open-source code editor. The right pick for 'Cursor but free' when paired with the Continue or Cline extensions.
GitHub
#02continuedev/continue
Open-source AI code assistant that plugs into VS Code and JetBrains. The right pick for 'Cursor but bring your own LLM'.
GitHub
#03Zed-Inc/zed
High-performance, Rust-native code editor with first-class AI features. The right pick for developers who want a snappier Cursor alternative.
GitHub

Related alternatives

Looking for a side-by-side comparison of two open-source projects? The compare matrix has 60+ "X vs Y" pages. Looking for a curated "best of" list for a specific category? See Best AI tools 2026 (and the 7 other category editions).