Cursor Alternatives in 2026
Your code leaves your machine on every keystroke. Ours never does.
Cursor routes every request through AWS, ships with two CVEs patched in August 2025, and operates on negative 30% gross margins. Bodega One runs on your machine, charges once, and keeps your code off every server -- including ours.
Seven reasons developers leave Cursor.
These are not edge cases. They are the architecture.
Your code hits their servers every keystroke
Every Cursor request routes through AWS before reaching Anthropic or OpenAI -- even if you supply your own API key. Cursor 3's Agents Window adds a cloud execution option for parallel agents, expanding the surface area of your code that can leave your machine. For teams in finance, healthcare, or government, that is an automatic disqualifier.
The pricing changed overnight -- and not in your favor
In June 2025, Cursor switched from 500 fixed requests to a credit-burn model, cutting Pro's effective monthly usage by more than half. They issued a public apology, but the new system is still opaque -- you cannot predict what a heavy refactor session will cost.
Two critical CVEs in 2025 -- architectural, not cosmetic
CVE-2025-54135 (CurXecute) and CVE-2025-54136 (MCPoison) are real vulnerabilities disclosed in August 2025. CurXecute used malicious project files to achieve remote code execution. MCPoison exploited the MCP server attack surface. Cursor patched both, but both exploited the cloud-brokered architecture -- a design choice, not an implementation bug.
Local models technically work -- via an undocumented workaround
Cursor requires a public HTTPS endpoint even for local Ollama models. True air-gap operation is impossible because the editor still phones home with code metadata. It is not an option for classified, regulated, or air-gapped environments.
Ownership in flux -- SpaceX $60B option deal, IPO pending
On April 21, 2026, SpaceX struck a deal giving it the option to acquire Cursor at $60B, preempting a $2B funding round Cursor was closing. The acquisition is waiting on SpaceX's IPO -- SpaceX plans to use public stock to finance it. Separately, as of mid-2025, Cursor was paying roughly $650M/year to Anthropic while generating around $500M in revenue. They launched a proprietary model in October 2025 to cut costs. In Cursor 3 and Michael Truell's 'Third Era' essay (February 2026), the IDE was demoted to a fallback. Who owns the roadmap and what they do with it is genuinely open.
Cancel any month and it all goes away
Pro is $20/month, Teams is $40/user/month -- and the moment you cancel, your access stops. You own no license, no local copy, nothing. For developers who want predictable costs and no renewal anxiety, there is no path forward.
Bugbot is a $40/user/month add-on -- on top of everything else
Cursor Bugbot is a separate subscription that automatically reviews pull requests for bugs. It is not included in any existing plan. At $32/user/month billed annually (or $40/month), it caps at 200 PRs per user per month pooled across your team. Teams are now looking at $20-$200/month for the editor plus another $40/user/month for PR reviews. Bodega One does code analysis as part of the one-time purchase.
Side by side.
| Feature | Cursor | Bodega One |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $20-$200/mo subscription | $79 one-time |
| Data privacy | Cloud only (code hits AWS) | Local only (zero cloud) |
| Local / offline | No | Yes |
| Air-gap | No | Yes (9 layers) |
| LLM flexibility | Fixed provider list (Claude/GPT/Gemini) | 10+ providers (BYOLLM) |
| IDE type | VS Code fork / cloud agent platform | Full IDE (Monaco, runs local) |
| Platforms | Windows / macOS / Linux | Windows / macOS / Linux |
What you get instead.
Not a fork of someone else's editor. A full IDE built for local-first AI.
Pay $79 once. Use it forever.
No monthly billing, no credit burn, no surprise pricing changes. Buy a license once and the software is yours -- on up to 2 machines, Windows, macOS, or Linux.
Air-gap mode is a first-class feature
Nine enforcement layers verify zero bytes leave the machine. Built for developers in defense, finance, healthcare, or anyone who does not trust third-party servers with their codebase.
10+ provider presets. Your API key. Your choice.
Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, llama.cpp, Groq, OpenRouter, Azure OpenAI -- and more. No dependency on a single upstream provider means no supply shock if Anthropic raises prices or changes terms.
Nothing leaves your machine for training. Ever.
With local inference, there is no upstream recipient. Your code is processed on your GPU, full stop -- no Privacy Mode to toggle, no opt-outs to hunt for.
No per-seat surprise bills for teams
Teams pay once per license. No per-user monthly charges, no credit overages, no line items that spike when a developer goes heads-down on a large refactor.
Full IDE -- not a fork built to sell subscriptions
Monaco editor, 4-layer memory system, 23 built-in tools, and an autonomous coding agent. Nothing gated behind a higher credit tier -- everything runs on your hardware.
The architecture tells the story.
CVE-2025-54135 and CVE-2025-54136
Both vulnerabilities were disclosed in August 2025 and patched by Cursor. CurXecute (CVE-2025-54135) used malicious project files to achieve remote code execution. MCPoison (CVE-2025-54136) exploited the MCP server attack surface. The root cause in both: a cloud-brokered architecture that trusts remote servers. Local-first tools without a cloud broker do not have this attack surface.
The credit-burn math
Cursor Pro ($20/mo) moved from 500 fixed requests to a credit model in June 2025. Heavy agent sessions burn credits fast. Power users hit the ceiling in under two weeks. The next tier is $60/month (Pro+), then $200/month (Ultra). Bugbot (PR review) launched as a separate $40/user/month add-on on top of that. Bodega One has no credits, no tiers, no ceiling -- because everything runs on your hardware.
Air-gap mode
Nine independent enforcement layers. Not one kill switch. Tool filtering, shell command blocking, auto-updater blocking, git IPC blocking, and more. Disable one and the other eight still hold. Zero bytes leave your machine.
BYOLLM -- any provider, any model
Cursor locks you to its curated model list. Bodega One ships with 10+ provider presets. Groq, Ollama, OpenRouter, Azure OpenAI, vLLM, llama.cpp -- if it has an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, it works. No dependency on Anthropic pricing decisions.
Code that lands clean.
Cursor has no verification layer. What the model outputs hits your file. Bodega One runs every change through three levels of automated verification before it lands -- pattern checks, compile gates, and a full structural verifier at loop end. Not a linter. A pipeline.
Incremental Verification
Pattern and compile check after every file write.
Micro-Proof Gates
tsc / py_compile runs every second write.
Full Verification
Structural verifier post-loop. Pass threshold 80 for new files.
Switching from
Cursor.
Can't I just use Cursor's Privacy Mode to keep my code safe?+
Privacy Mode stops Cursor from training on your code, but your code still leaves your machine on every request -- routing through Cursor's AWS infrastructure before hitting Anthropic or OpenAI. For regulated industries or developers who want true air-gap, 'off training servers' is not the same as 'never transmitted.'
Cursor 3 just launched -- does it address any of this?+
Not for the issues that matter. Cursor 3 ships an Agents Window that lets you run parallel agents locally, in worktrees, or in the cloud. The cloud option means more of your codebase can route remotely, and the architecture that makes that possible is the same one that caused the CVEs. The pricing is unchanged ($20-$200/month). The pivot from 'IDE with AI' to 'you manage agents across environments' is a direction away from simplicity, not toward it.
What about Cursor Bugbot? Is it included?+
No. Bugbot is a separate $40/user/month add-on on top of your Cursor subscription ($32/user/month billed yearly). It reviews pull requests automatically and caps at 200 PRs per user per month, pooled across your team. Teams paying $20-$200/month for the editor now face another line item for AI code review. Bodega One does code analysis locally as part of the one-time purchase -- no per-PR caps, no add-on tier.
How bad was the June 2025 pricing change?+
Cursor switched from 500 fixed requests to a credit-burn model in June 2025. Power users reported hitting the monthly ceiling in under two weeks. The next tier jumps to $60/month, then $200/month. Cursor issued refunds and a public apology, but the credit model has not changed.
Are the CVEs actually a big deal?+
CVE-2025-54135 (CurXecute) and CVE-2025-54136 (MCPoison) are real vulnerabilities disclosed in August 2025. CurXecute allowed remote code execution via malicious project files. MCPoison exploited the MCP server attack surface. Cursor patched both, but the architectural choice that made them possible -- cloud-brokered execution with remote server trust -- remains. Local-first tools with no cloud broker do not have this attack surface.
Does Bodega One support the same models as Cursor?+
Cursor limits you to its curated model list. Bodega One ships with 10+ provider presets and works with any OpenAI-compatible endpoint -- local models like Qwen2.5-Coder via Ollama, or cloud providers like Groq and OpenRouter. If a better model ships tomorrow, you can use it the same day.
SpaceX just offered $60B for Cursor. Doesn't that mean it's going to dominate?+
SpaceX struck a deal on April 21, 2026 giving it an option to acquire Cursor for $60B -- but the acquisition hasn't closed. SpaceX is waiting until after its IPO to finance the purchase using public stock. Microsoft also explored buying Cursor before the SpaceX deal emerged. In the meantime, Cursor's cloud architecture, pricing model, and patched CVEs are unchanged. As of mid-2025, Cursor was running negative gross margins -- roughly $650M/year to Anthropic on ~$500M revenue. Whether SpaceX closes the deal, and what changes to Cursor's product direction if it does, remains an open question. Bodega One's one-time model has no dependency on an acquirer's roadmap.
When is Bodega One available?+
Beta is live now for the first 200 users. Full launch coming later this year. Join the waitlist at bodegaone.ai to be first in line.
Stop paying monthly for code that leaves your machine.
One-time purchase. Runs local. Air-gap mode built in. 23 tools and an autonomous agent that verifies its own work. Your code stays on your machine -- not Cursor's AWS, not Anthropic's servers, not anyone else's.
Join the Waitlist$79 Personal. $149 Pro. One-time. Windows, macOS, Linux.