A agentindex
Comparison

Cursor vs OpenAI Codex

A like-for-like, spec-level comparison. Both entries are verified against their docs and repo.

Cursor

The AI-first code editor built on VS Code.

  • + Familiar VS Code workflow with native AI
  • + @-mentions reduce hallucinated APIs
  • − Closed source editor
  • − Best features behind the paid tier

OpenAI Codex

OpenAI's open-source agentic coding CLI.

  • + Open-source CLI
  • + Sandboxed command execution
  • − OpenAI models only
  • − Newer, less battle-tested than incumbents
Spec Cursor OpenAI Codex
Role Coding agent Coding agent
Tags coding-agent, editor, persona-solo-builder, persona-software-developer, persona-data-scientist coding-agent, cli, persona-solo-builder, persona-software-developer, persona-data-scientist
License Proprietary Apache-2.0
Open source No Yes
Self-hostable No No
MCP support Yes Yes
Pricing freemium usage
Price $20/mo Free
Usage cost Included Metered
Models claude, gpt, gemini, custom gpt
Languages multi multi
GitHub stars — 95.4k
Last activity — 2026-07-04