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I don't really see why people still use Cursor over tools like Cline / Roo Code. I'm guessing it's as they clearly have a larger viral marketing department than

I don't really see why people still use Cursor over tools like Cline / Roo Code. I'm guessing it's as they clearly have a larger viral marketing department than engineers, as the application itself doesn't perform nearly as well, requires you to have another IDE installed and their subscriptions nerf the models context sizes etc...

demosthanos 1y ago
Because at some point we have to stop riding the treadmill and just pick a tool and use it to make stuff. Cursor was the first to really arrive at a useful agent mode. It does everything I need it to and more. It's not worth it to me to keep hopping to new tools every time a new one becomes the hyped up hot thing. Like it or not, we're hitting the slope of enlightenment and some of us are ready to be done with the churn for a while.
- smcleod 1y ago
  Cline was agent based from day one and doesn't try to do copilot style tab completes at all. It's been our go to agentic coding app across the majority of our large clients since mid-late 2024. Cursor has been trying to play catch up but has not delivered us the same results.
  - demosthanos 1y ago
    > doesn't try to do copilot style tab completes at all Which is another reason why I'll stick with Cursor. Cursor's tab complete can barely be described as Copilot-style, it's nearly a different paradigm and it's what actually got me to pay for it in the first place. I only tried agent mode because it was included with the bundle. > from day one July 5, 2024 if going by initial commit. So, yes, technically before Cursor, but Cursor was building agent mode before Cline drew any attention in the mainstream. Cline's first interest on HN dates back to January. I'll concede that it appears Cline did get to agents first, but it's still a new development in terms of actually drawing interest.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - meowface 1y ago
    Cursor Tab is like 60% of the reason why it's so good. Cursor Agent works great, too. Most importantly, everything is $20/month, instead of possibly $20/day with Cline or Roo.
Glyptodon 1y ago
Because my company decided to pay for everyone's cursor and I don't have the bandwidth to spend my time constantly evaluating what's better and pitching it?
h2782 1y ago
I couldn't possibly disagree with you more that Cline is better than Cursor. Cursor's success isn't because of "a larger viral marketing department"; it's because they made superior software and service.
mntruell 1y ago
> their subscriptions nerf the models context sizes etc You can use the full-context if you prefer that cost/speed tradeoff! Just have to turn on Max Mode. Cline is great for many users, but a bit of a different product. Lots of Cursor's value come from custom models that run in the background (e.g. Tab, models that gather context, etc.).
nfRfqX5n 1y ago
the tab feature is really good
ramoz 1y ago
A lot of power in social influence. Especially with the younger generations who remix that influence - compound spread of mindshare. Cursor is all over social media.
- BoorishBears 1y ago
  That's silly. Cursor has the best autocomplete experience, period, and some people prefer that to agent-style interactions. There's still a ton of low hanging fruit that other Copilot-style autocomplete products don't seem to be picking up, like using clipboard contents, identifying the next place in the file to jump to, etc. I primarily save time coding with AI with autocomplete, followed by chat, with agentic flows a very distant 3rd, so Cursor is a legitimately better product for me.
  - ramoz 1y ago
    It’s not silly at all. There is a lot of hyper activity going in terms of social influence. I didn’t say cursor has poor UX. I tab too. And use agent for cheaper work I don’t care too much about. That said, the best autocomplete is arguably evolving and cursor does not own that.
    - BoorishBears 1y ago
      Someone said "I don't really see why people still use Cursor over tools like Cline / Roo Code" And your answer is "A lot of power in social influence.", which is a bit silly when autocomplete is the first form of AI assistance a critical mass of people found intuitive + helpful and Cursor has the best implementation of it... meanwhile Cline/Roo Code don't provide it.
      - ramoz 1y ago
        You don’t get it - autocomplete is evolving from keyboard clicks to prompts. Tab-ing is not as effective as agentic coding. Your beloved cursor will go all in on this front, less and less priority on focused cursors in the editor.
jen729w 1y ago
Remember, not everyone is a pro dev. I'm certainly not: and in that context I find Cursor to be incredibly simple and useful. It's just like VSC, which I was using, but it has these magical abilities. I was using it within a minute of downloading it. Unlike Cline, I guess, whatever that is.
- SparkyMcUnicorn 1y ago
  Install Roo Code (or Cline) in VS Code, plug in your API key(s), and start using them. It's that simple.
ecb_penguin 1y ago
> I don't really see why people still use Cursor over tools like Cline / Roo Code Because we're developers with things to build and we don't have time to play with every AI tool backed by the same LLM.
sunaookami 1y ago
Cline eats tokens for breakfast, especially for reasoning models. Used it to apply an older patch for a certain React Native lib to a newer version (was not very big but files moved around etc.) and it blew through my free 1 Mio tokens per day for o3 in a few minutes. It worked flawlessly though, but Cursor is just way cheaper.
hn_throw2025 1y ago
Because if you’re paying for your own subscription, it’s a way to control costs. If you know how to use it properly, it’s possible to stay within the $20/month spend. Just not if you are tossing trivial tasks to Claude4/GeminiPro and forever topping up tokens.
DanielVZ 1y ago
I use cursor because it’s way cheaper to pay their monthly subscription than bringing my own key. I’ve tried all tools and in the end the most cost effective one ended up being cursor. In others I’d end up burning $10 a day.
jes5199 1y ago
I tried Cline, but I like Cursor better

demosthanos 1y ago

Because at some point we have to stop riding the treadmill and just pick a tool and use it to make stuff. Cursor was the first to really arrive at a useful agent mode. It does everything I need it to and more. It's not worth it to me to keep hopping to new tools every time a new one becomes the hyped up hot thing. Like it or not, we're hitting the slope of enlightenment and some of us are ready to be done with the churn for a while.

smcleod 1y ago
Cline was agent based from day one and doesn't try to do copilot style tab completes at all. It's been our go to agentic coding app across the majority of our large clients since mid-late 2024. Cursor has been trying to play catch up but has not delivered us the same results.
- demosthanos 1y ago
  > doesn't try to do copilot style tab completes at all Which is another reason why I'll stick with Cursor. Cursor's tab complete can barely be described as Copilot-style, it's nearly a different paradigm and it's what actually got me to pay for it in the first place. I only tried agent mode because it was included with the bundle. > from day one July 5, 2024 if going by initial commit. So, yes, technically before Cursor, but Cursor was building agent mode before Cline drew any attention in the mainstream. Cline's first interest on HN dates back to January. I'll concede that it appears Cline did get to agents first, but it's still a new development in terms of actually drawing interest.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- meowface 1y ago
  Cursor Tab is like 60% of the reason why it's so good. Cursor Agent works great, too. Most importantly, everything is $20/month, instead of possibly $20/day with Cline or Roo.

Glyptodon 1y ago

Because my company decided to pay for everyone's cursor and I don't have the bandwidth to spend my time constantly evaluating what's better and pitching it?

h2782 1y ago

I couldn't possibly disagree with you more that Cline is better than Cursor. Cursor's success isn't because of "a larger viral marketing department"; it's because they made superior software and service.

mntruell 1y ago

> their subscriptions nerf the models context sizes etc You can use the full-context if you prefer that cost/speed tradeoff! Just have to turn on Max Mode. Cline is great for many users, but a bit of a different product. Lots of Cursor's value come from custom models that run in the background (e.g. Tab, models that gather context, etc.).

nfRfqX5n 1y ago

the tab feature is really good

ramoz 1y ago

A lot of power in social influence. Especially with the younger generations who remix that influence - compound spread of mindshare. Cursor is all over social media.

BoorishBears 1y ago
That's silly. Cursor has the best autocomplete experience, period, and some people prefer that to agent-style interactions. There's still a ton of low hanging fruit that other Copilot-style autocomplete products don't seem to be picking up, like using clipboard contents, identifying the next place in the file to jump to, etc. I primarily save time coding with AI with autocomplete, followed by chat, with agentic flows a very distant 3rd, so Cursor is a legitimately better product for me.
- ramoz 1y ago
  It’s not silly at all. There is a lot of hyper activity going in terms of social influence. I didn’t say cursor has poor UX. I tab too. And use agent for cheaper work I don’t care too much about. That said, the best autocomplete is arguably evolving and cursor does not own that.
  - BoorishBears 1y ago
    Someone said "I don't really see why people still use Cursor over tools like Cline / Roo Code" And your answer is "A lot of power in social influence.", which is a bit silly when autocomplete is the first form of AI assistance a critical mass of people found intuitive + helpful and Cursor has the best implementation of it... meanwhile Cline/Roo Code don't provide it.
    - ramoz 1y ago
      You don’t get it - autocomplete is evolving from keyboard clicks to prompts. Tab-ing is not as effective as agentic coding. Your beloved cursor will go all in on this front, less and less priority on focused cursors in the editor.

jen729w 1y ago

Remember, not everyone is a pro dev. I'm certainly not: and in that context I find Cursor to be incredibly simple and useful. It's just like VSC, which I was using, but it has these magical abilities. I was using it within a minute of downloading it. Unlike Cline, I guess, whatever that is.

SparkyMcUnicorn 1y ago
Install Roo Code (or Cline) in VS Code, plug in your API key(s), and start using them. It's that simple.

ecb_penguin 1y ago

> I don't really see why people still use Cursor over tools like Cline / Roo Code Because we're developers with things to build and we don't have time to play with every AI tool backed by the same LLM.

sunaookami 1y ago

Cline eats tokens for breakfast, especially for reasoning models. Used it to apply an older patch for a certain React Native lib to a newer version (was not very big but files moved around etc.) and it blew through my free 1 Mio tokens per day for o3 in a few minutes. It worked flawlessly though, but Cursor is just way cheaper.

hn_throw2025 1y ago

Because if you’re paying for your own subscription, it’s a way to control costs. If you know how to use it properly, it’s possible to stay within the $20/month spend. Just not if you are tossing trivial tasks to Claude4/GeminiPro and forever topping up tokens.

DanielVZ 1y ago

I use cursor because it’s way cheaper to pay their monthly subscription than bringing my own key. I’ve tried all tools and in the end the most cost effective one ended up being cursor. In others I’d end up burning $10 a day.

jes5199 1y ago

I tried Cline, but I like Cursor better