Cursor vs Geany
Cursor
cursor.comGeany
geany.orgSide by side
| Figure | Cursor | Geany |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $8/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 11 | 1 |
| Spec score · Editor Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Documentation | The documentation covers installation, agents, models, CLI, SDKs, integrations, customization, billing, and security. | Official documentation includes a manual, FAQ, release notes, hacking guidance, wiki and plugin API reference. |
| Notable news | Cursor announced a beta Environments API on October 16, 2026, with cloud-agent environments supporting up to 300 repositories. | Geany-Plugins 2.0 was announced on October 19, 2023 with GeanyVC, ProjectOrganizer, file-manager and terminal actions, sidebar restoration and Vimmode improvements. |
| Product | Cursor describes itself as a coding agent for building ambitious software. | Geany describes itself as a small and lightweight integrated development environment. |
| Support | Cursor directs users to its forum or to [email protected] for private questions. | The project directs users with build errors to its mailing list or one of the authors. |
| Terminal | Cursor can run build, test, and install commands, with confirmation and sandboxing enabled by default. | Geany provides embedded terminal emulation, although the Windows port lacks an embedded terminal window. |
| What it does | Cursor is an AI coding agent and editor for understanding repositories, planning and building features, fixing bugs, and reviewing changes. | Geany is a small, fast integrated development environment and text editor built with GTK and Scintilla. |
Plans
Cursor
- FreeFree
- HobbyFree
- Plus$8 a month
- Pro$20 a month
- Premium$30 a month
- Teams$30 a month
- Pro+$60 a month
- Super$100 a month
- Ultra$200 a month
- Ultra$200 a month
In their own words
Cursor
Cursor is a coding agent for building software, available as a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. Users can select models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, SpaceXAI and Cursor, and launch fleets of agents to work in parallel for hours or days. Cursor also runs in the terminal, collaborates in Slack and reviews GitHub pull requests. Cloud Agents integrate with Slack, GitHub, GitHub Enterprise Server, GitLab and Linear. The free Hobby plan includes limited Agent requests and Composer access. Pro costs $20 a month, and Teams costs $40 a month. Every plan includes model usage; on-demand usage can continue after the included amount is consumed and is billed in arrears. Privacy Mode is described as preventing training on customer data, with technical and contractual protections applied through model providers. Enterprise adds repository, model and MCP controls, audit logs and service accounts; pricing is custom and no fixed amount is listed. Cursor holds listed security certifications and attestations, and directs users to its forum or an email contact for private questions.
Geany
Geany is a free, lightweight integrated development environment for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It provides syntax highlighting, code completion, call tips, and code folding for languages and file types including C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, Perl, and Pascal. An embedded terminal emulator is included, and plugins can extend the editor. Geany supports macro recording and column editing, but not multi-cursor editing. The project distributes it under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later. Linux, BSD, and similar systems are directed toward distribution packages, including packages named for Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu. Prebuilt Windows and macOS binaries are available from geany.org, along with links to additional third-party packages and a portable Windows version. Building from source requires GTK3 libraries and headers, dependency libraries, and C and C++ compilers. Geany has no free trial because the listed plan is free.