Imagine your upcoming workweek. Think about the project you’re tackling with all the technology stack it contains. Now, picture the effort it will take to deliver your task to meet deadlines.

Now, close your eyes and imagine this instead: you're in the same chair, typing on the same keyboard, but this time it takes you 10x less time to complete your work, and the process is 20x more fun and stress-free.

In today’s fast-evolving landscape, we can’t predict the exact tools we’ll be using even tomorrow. However, Cursor IDE has already shown us the way forward by deeply integrating AI into the development workflow, making it one of the coolest additions to any developer’s toolbox.

Until another IDE takes the crown, make the most of Cursor and enjoy all the benefits highlighted in this article today.

At this point, you’re probably wondering: “Why should I bother with a new IDE? I already use GitHub Copilot—what more could I need?”. I hear you. Let me share my journey.

For months, I used GitHub Copilot with WebStorm and VSCode. While it was fun and certainly helped speed up tasks like writing comments and making some code adjustments, it never truly stood out. It was useful, yes, but it didn’t feel like the game-changer I was hoping for in this new era of AI.

Eventually, I canceled my Copilot subscription and began searching for alternatives. That’s when I stumbled upon a fantastic vlog by @developersdigest. Watching Cursor in action sparked my curiosity, and I decided to give it a shot.

Fast forward to today: this article is my take after I’ve embraced tools that turn development into a seamless collaboration between human creativity and AI precision.

Why Cursor Elevates VSCode to the Next Level

Cursor, built on the foundation of VSCode, deeply integrates AI into the IDE, turning coding from a solitary task into a collaborative and enjoyable experience. It doesn’t just boost your speed—it enhances your intelligence and efficiency.

Beating Copilot at Its Own Game

GitHub Copilot may have been the first big AI assistant, but Cursor takes it further. It doesn’t just assist—it understands your project, offering smarter suggestions, contextual improvements, and comprehensive changes. With Cursor, it feels like you’re collaborating with a teammate who’s an expert at everything.

What about ChatGPT?

I currently use both Cursor and ChatGPT Plus side by side. ChatGPT is my go-to for discussing architecture, design, and approaches, while Cursor handles the actual development with its deep IDE integrations, as detailed below.

Interestingly, while writing this article, ChatGPT introduced a feature for IDE integration in beta version. Although it doesn’t yet match the seamless AI integrations Cursor offers, I’m planning to give it a try in parallel since ChatGPT often provides a significant productivity boost. However, for now, Cursor remains my primary choice for development.

Cursor’s Game-Changing Features

1. Super-Powered Auto-Completion

Cursor’s auto-completion is more than predictive—it’s intuitive. It anticipates your logic, completes entire blocks of code, and even fixes multiple issues simultaneously.

The suggestions are so precise that you’ll often find yourself just pressing Tab to approve them, letting Cursor handle the typing. In this example, I placed the cursor on the arguments, and it accurately suggested the projectName argument (#1). From there, I simply Tabbed through the remaining suggestions (#2, #3), streamlining the process effortlessly.

2. Inline Popovers: Your AI Genie

Cursor’s inline popovers are like having an AI assistant whispering actionable tips as you code. Highlight any snippet, provide a quick prompt, and instantly get suggestions or fixes tailored to your needs.

3. Transition from Figma to Code – Lightning Fast

Transforming designs into code has never been easier. With a specialized Figma plugin Figma To Cursor, you can export any design as XML directly to your clipboard and simply paste it into Cursor’s prompt with a Generate prefix. That’s all it takes. Cursor’s AI takes care of the rest, producing remarkable results. It not only generates the HTML structure but also styles it according to your project’s conventions, seamlessly integrating with your stack, including the application state management and any other frameworks used. This saves you hours of manual effort while ensuring consistency and alignment with your existing architecture.

4. Visual Diffs for Code Changes

Every modification Cursor suggests is presented as a familiar visual diff, but it goes beyond just offering generic solutions. Cursor is fully aware of your codebase and provides context-aware migrations, ensuring seamless integration and precise updates. You retain full control to review, accept, or reject the changes with confidence.

5. Context-Aware Chat

Cursor’s chat feature goes beyond the boundaries of the current file. It doesn’t just answer questions—it understands your entire project. You decide which files to include in the conversation—whether it’s specific files, folders, or even the entire codebase.

Here’s a practical example: In my project, I needed to add a photo carousel in Ionic with features like zoom and pinch—a task I would normally estimate to take an entire day due to its complexity. Using Cursor IDE, I selected the relevant files, image-gallery.tsx and image-gallery.module.css, in the chat and provided a prompt outlining the desired changes. Cursor responded with a clear, step-by-step guide that modified multiple files simultaneously. All I had to do was review the suggested changes, click “apply,” and approve them with ease.

6. Web Surfing for Context

Cursor isn’t confined to local knowledge. It fetches relevant real-time data from the web, and tailors its suggestions based on the latest best practices.

Here’s a real-world example: I had an image carousel built with Ionic’s IonSlides component. This component was deprecated in v6.0.0 and removed in v7.0.0. The official migration guide in this article recommended switching to swiper.js.

With Cursor’s ability to incorporate web links directly into prompts, I kept things simple: my prompt was, “use @ web https://ionicframework.com/docs/react/slides with swiper.js”. Cursor read the relevant pages and delivered a near-perfect solution, saving me the time needed to learn it and write it by my self.

This feature not only speeds up migrations but also ensures the generated code aligns with the latest official recommendations, saving me the time and effort of learning and implementing it manually.

7. Documentation Cataloging

Cursor includes a built-in catalog of a wide range of documentation, ensuring it pulls answers from the latest official sources.

For teams using internally developed libraries, the ability to add custom documentation is an incredibly valuable feature. For everyone else, Cursor seamlessly provides code based on the most up-to-date documentation, all behind the scenes, without requiring any extra effort from the user.

8. Cursor Supports Multiple Frameworks and Languages

Cursor works seamlessly with a wide variety of frameworks and programming languages, making it a valuable tool for developers across different domains.

For instance, in the image below, a data scientist is using Python to implement face recognition with the DeepFace library. Cursor not only aids in writing and debugging the code but also offers contextual suggestions for integrating complementary tools, such as PostgreSQL, to store and retrieve detected face data efficiently.

How Companies Can Ensure Privacy with Cursor

When it comes to companies, privacy is always a top priority. However, the concept of privacy is evolving, especially in a world where we rely on thousands of third-party libraries, IDE plugins, and browser extensions—each introducing potential attack vectors.

To deliver efficiently, you can’t build everything from scratch; AI-powered IDEs and tools have become indispensable. This makes it crucial to choose trustworthy providers, minimize unnecessary plugins, and configure tools securely.

The first step is to enable privacy mode, as outlined in Cursor’s privacy page. Next, ensure the company uses its own API key tied to a service the organization subscribes to, providing added control and security.

Consider limiting the use of unnecessary plugins to reduce potential attack surfaces, regularly review and update the tool’s configurations, and follow best practices when interacting with AI tools to further enhance privacy and security.

My Experience with Cursor

I reimagined my personal journal app with Cursor, and it was a game-changer. From Firebase integration to transforming Figma designs into clean HTML, to automating UI logic and refining repetitive code, Cursor turned hours of work into minutes. Its deep understanding of my project let me focus on creativity, problem-solving, and building—while it handled the tedious tasks effortlessly.

Why You Should Try Cursor Today

Cursor isn’t just another tool; it’s a revolution for developers. It’s fast, intuitive, and makes coding fun again. If you’re ready to unlock your potential and deliver projects with unprecedented speed, try Cursor.