AirCode vs Cursor

At a glance

AirCode Studio isn’t released yet. It is coming soon for macOS, Windows and Linux, so you can’t try it today. Where this page describes Studio, it describes what AirLLM’s Developer Guide says Studio is designed to do.

Two different shapes of tool

Cursor is an editor first. You write and read code in it, and its agent, completions, review and cloud agents are built into that editor. It is based on the VS Code codebase, so VS Code users find a familiar layout, with extensions from Open VSX.

AirCode is an agent first. AirCode CLI is a terminal app: you describe a task, and the agent reads the project, edits files, runs commands and checks its work. AirCode Studio is designed as a desktop workspace where you watch that agent build and run your app; it adds projects, previews, verification, Git review, a file editor and a terminal, but it isn’t positioned as a replacement for a full code editor.

How the agent workflows differ

Cursor

Cursor’s Agent can complete coding tasks on its own, run terminal commands and edit code. It creates checkpoints before significant changes; restoring one reverts files only, and checkpoints are stored locally, separate from Git. Plan Mode researches, writes a plan and waits for your approval, and rules (including AGENTS.md) steer its behavior.

For checking work, the Agent can control a browser to test web applications, and Cloud Agents run in cloud VMs where they can start dev servers and click through UI flows. Bugbot reviews pull requests.

AirCode CLI, available today

AirCode is built for unattended work. aircode loop "make the tests pass" --until "npm test" repeats until the check passes or a limit is reached (--max-iter, --max-cost, --max-minutes), and --checkpoint git captures progress in Git and can revert agent-made regressions. aircode watch --check runs your check on every save and tries a fix when it fails.

AirCode Studio, coming soon

According to the Developer Guide, Studio runs web apps in a built-in preview, iOS apps in the Simulator (Xcode, which runs on macOS only) and Android apps in the Emulator. It checks that the app builds and renders, then lets you review the diff, stage it and commit in the same window.

Models and routing

Cursor offers models from several providers plus its own, and its Auto setting chooses for you. Its docs describe Cursor Router, which classifies each agent request and routes it based on the task, as available on Teams and Enterprise plans; individual plans get Auto’s Cost mode.

AirCode sends its requests through AirLLM. The default routing model, airllm-auto, matches each step to a suitable model across supported providers, while airllm-anthropic and airllm-openai keep requests within one provider family. See automatic model selection with AirLLM’s routing models.

When to choose each

Choose Cursor if…

• You want a full code editor with AI built in: completions, an agent, PR review and cloud agents in one product.
• Your team is standardizing on one editor with team plans and admin controls.
• You want to start using it today on the desktop, with agents you can manage from iOS.

Choose AirCode if…

• You prefer working from the terminal, alongside whatever editor you already use.
• You run long, unattended jobs with limits on iterations, time and cost.
• You want routing across providers and one AirLLM bill, and you’re interested in Studio’s build-run-verify workflow when it launches.

You don’t have to choose: Cursor with Air Router

You can keep Cursor and send its chat-model requests through Air Router. In Cursor Settings → Models, add your AirLLM API key, turn on the OpenAI base URL override with https://api.airllm.ai/v1, then add and select the model airllm-auto. The Cursor setup guide walks through it.

Know the limits Cursor documents for your own keys: they only work with chat models, Tab completion keeps using Cursor’s built-in models, requests still pass through Cursor’s servers for prompt building, and Cursor’s zero-data-retention policy doesn’t apply to them. Some plans don’t allow your own keys. To route a terminal agent instead, see the coding tools Air Router supports.

About this comparison. Compiled from each product’s public documentation on October 20, 2026. Details change often, so check the sources below. Product names and trademarks belong to their owners.

Frequently asked questions

Related

Sources

• AirLLM — AirCode CLI
• AirLLM Developer Guide — AirCode CLI and AirCode Studio
• AirLLM Terms — section 10, AirCode software license
• AirLLM Developer Guide — AirCode Studio (coming soon)
• Cursor docs — Overview
• Cursor blog — Joining SpaceX (August 14, 2026)
• Cursor docs — Quickstart
• Cursor docs — Models and pricing
• Cursor pricing
• Cursor docs — Cursor Router
• Cursor help — API keys
• Cursor docs — Agent overview
• Cursor docs — Browser tool
• Cursor docs — Cloud Agents
• Cursor Terms of Service