What Is Cursor and Why Developers Are Switching From VS Code

If you write code for a living, you’ve probably heard whispers about Cursor — the AI-first code editor that’s got a lot of devs swapping out their beloved VS Code.

Here’s the deal: Cursor isn’t just VS Code with some AI features tacked on. It’s built for AI from the ground up — and that changes everything.

Rather than only looking at the file you’ve got open, Cursor actually understands your whole codebase. It knows how your files talk to each other, where functions get reused, and what your architecture looks like. So when it gives you suggestions? They’re actually useful — not just generic code snippets ripped from the internet.

What Makes Cursor Different

First up, the inline GPT-4 suggestions aren’t just about speed — they’re context-aware. So you’re not just getting “autocomplete on steroids,” you’re getting proper help that fits your project and your style.

Then there’s the “Ask Cursor” feature. You can use this to highlight any bit of code and then ask it to explain, refactor, or help you figure out what the hell it’s doing. A lifesaver for when you’re wading through legacy code or picking up someone else’s questionable logic.

And if you ask it to refactor a function? It doesn’t just change one file — it tracks that function across your whole repo and updates everything. You can also get it to generate proper tests that match your existing setup.