Free Cursor Alternatives
Five verified ways to code with AI for free besides Cursor, including Cursor’s own Hobby plan, with real limits, card rules, and last-verified dates.
Cursor’s free Hobby plan is real - but its Agent requests run out fast, and every alternative trades something else: rotating models, light agent quotas, ads, or limited-time windows. This page lines up Cursor’s own free plan against verified ways to code with AI for free, using the same data as the free AI coding tools directory - every entry claimed with a real signup and re-checked monthly.
| Option | What is free | Card | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor Free Planbaseline | Cursor Agent with limited agent and chat requests, $0/month | no card | Catch: Usage is limited on the Free plan; Plus ($8/month) covers Grok models only, and third-party models (billed at API list price), cloud agents and Bugbot code reviews start at Premium ($30/month). |
| Cline Free Models | Try select models free in Cline via rotating promotions with a usage quota | no card | Catch: Rotating, limited-time promotions with a usage quota; after the quota ends you need ClinePass ($9.99/mo), usage billing, or your own API key. |
| Devin Free Plan | Unlimited tab completions and inline edits plus a light agent quota | no card | Catch: Limited model availability and only a light agent quota; higher tiers (Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo) unlock more. |
| Freebuff Free Coding Agents | Free coding agents across CLI, desktop, web, cloud, and chat, funded by ads | no card | Catch: Full access is limited to 25 countries - elsewhere (and on VPNs) you get limited mode with 4 models. Ad-funded: prompts may be analyzed to personalize ads, and some models train on your data. |
| OpenCode Zen Free Models | Free coding LLMs including Big Pickle, MiMo, DeepSeek, and Nemotron | card | Catch: All free models are limited-time and you must add billing details and credits; Big Pickle, LL Alpha, Exo and MiMo data may be used to improve the models, and NVIDIA trial endpoints log use. |
The 5 options, in detail
Cursor Free Plan
Cursor Agent with limited agent and chat requests, $0/month
- Limited agent requests and limited chat requests
- Cursor Agent included; cloud agents, Bugbot reviews and third-party models are not
- Plus ($8/month) is Grok models only; third-party models start at Premium ($30/month), billed separately at API list price
- Paid tiers: Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100, Ultra $200 per month
Catch: Usage is limited on the Free plan; Plus ($8/month) covers Grok models only, and third-party models (billed at API list price), cloud agents and Bugbot code reviews start at Premium ($30/month).
Cline Free Models
Try select models free in Cline via rotating promotions with a usage quota
- Rotating, limited-time free model promotions
- Limited usage quota per promotion (amount not published)
- Requires a Cline account
- Free models work only in the IDE extension and CLI, not the Cline API
Catch: Rotating, limited-time promotions with a usage quota; after the quota ends you need ClinePass ($9.99/mo), usage billing, or your own API key.
Devin Free Plan
Unlimited tab completions and inline edits plus a light agent quota
- Light agent coding quota
- Limited model availability
- Unlimited inline edits and Tab completions included
Catch: Limited model availability and only a light agent quota; higher tiers (Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo) unlock more.
Freebuff Free Coding Agents
Free coding agents across CLI, desktop, web, cloud, and chat, funded by ads
- Usage is measured in hours; models other than MiMo v2.6 Flash Slow carry a multiplier (an hour on a 3x model uses three)
- Free plan: 30 hours refilled daily, reset at midnight in your local timezone; unused daily hours do not roll over
- Where the app shows sessions: limited mode includes 6 one-hour sessions per day, earnable up to 7
- Muse Spark 1.3 is rate limited and shared by all users; it queues when busy
Catch: Full access is limited to 25 countries - elsewhere (and on VPNs) you get limited mode with 4 models. Ad-funded: prompts may be analyzed to personalize ads, and some models train on your data.
OpenCode Zen Free Models
Free coding LLMs including Big Pickle, MiMo, DeepSeek, and Nemotron
- Limited time — every free model is marked 'available on OpenCode for a limited time'
- Free models: Big Pickle, GLM-5.3-Flash, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, MiniMax M3.1 Flash, Beam, LL Alpha, LongCat 2.5 Preview, Exo, MiMo-V2.6-Flash, MiMo-V2.5, Nemotron 3 Ultra, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, Nemotron 3.5 Super VL, Jev 1.13 (all "Free" variants)
- Sign in to the OpenCode Console, add billing details and credits, and copy an API key to use the models
- Free models carry data-retention exceptions to the zero-retention policy
Catch: All free models are limited-time and you must add billing details and credits; Big Pickle, LL Alpha, Exo and MiMo data may be used to improve the models, and NVIDIA trial endpoints log use.
Free forever by self-hosting
Open-source projects that do the same job on your own hardware, with no quota.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Cursor itself free?
- Partly. The Hobby plan has no expiration and includes Cursor Composer plus limited Agent requests with no credit card - heavier agent use and frontier models need Pro at $20/month. It is in the comparison below as the baseline.
- What is the best free alternative to Cursor?
- For a permanent editor tier, Cursor’s own Hobby plan is still the strongest no-expiration option. For free model access through agents and CLIs, Cline’s rotating free models and OpenCode Zen’s curated free LLMs are the closest matches. The right pick depends on whether you need an editor (Devin, Freebuff) or an API/agent route (Cline, OpenCode Zen).
- Do these free coding tools need a credit card?
- The options compared here do not demand a card at signup, with one exception: OpenCode Zen asks for billing details when you generate an API key for its free models. Each row in the table states the requirement.
- How current is this comparison?
- Every row is generated from the aifree.dev catalog, whose Verified offers were claimed and tested by a person and are re-checked monthly. When a free tier changes or dies, the row changes or disappears - dead offers are removed, not left rotting.