AI-powered developer tools are revolutionizing the way engineers write and manage code. Among them, Cursor and Sourcegraph Cody stand out as two leading solutions for AI-powered code completion.
While Cursor is a full-fledged VS Code-based editor with built-in AI, Cody takes a platform-agnostic approach, offering broad IDE compatibility for developers across different environments.
AI-assisted coding speeds up development, but ensuring code quality and maintainability is just as crucial. If you're looking for an AI-powered code review tool, Greptile provides automated AI code reviews to catch bugs, enforce best practices, and improve long-term maintainability.
This comparison will break down the key differences, helping you choose the best AI-powered coding tool for your workflow.
🔍 Feature Comparison
⚡ Code Completion
Cursor
Cursor provides robust code completion through its Cursor Tab feature, offering multi-line suggestions and modifications to existing code. It understands context from recent changes and linter errors, allowing developers to partially accept suggestions using keyboard shortcuts. The completion system is deeply integrated into the editor, providing 2,000 free suggestions for hobby users and unlimited completions for Pro users.
Cody
Sourcegraph Cody’s code completion is designed to work across multiple IDEs, ensuring consistency in coding patterns and reducing errors. It provides context-aware suggestions based on your entire codebase, helping developers maintain uniformity and write code faster. Cody is particularly effective in multi-repository contexts, making it a strong choice for enterprise teams.
💬 AI Chat Capabilities
Cursor
Cursor features a comprehensive chat system with support for multiple AI models, including GPT-4 and Claude. The chat interface preserves history, automatically includes relevant file context, and offers web search capabilities. Users can generate code blocks and instantly apply them to their projects, with the added benefit of terminal integration for command generation.
Cody
Cody’s chat interface focuses on deep codebase awareness, allowing developers to use @-mentions to pull in specific context from files, symbols, and repositories. The chat system is designed to handle complex queries across multiple files and provides interactive debugging capabilities. It integrates well with IDE-native features and supports custom prompts for common tasks.
🔍 Context Awareness
Cursor
Cursor implements automatic indexing of codebases, using embeddings-based search for accurate code references. Users can customize indexing rules via .cursorignore, ensuring that only relevant project files are processed while maintaining privacy. The system extends its context awareness to terminal integration and recent code changes.
Cody
Cody excels in context awareness through multiple retrieval methods, including Keyword Search, Sourcegraph Search API, and Code Graph analysis. It supports cross-repository context in enterprise environments and offers configurable context window sizes and token limits. Cody can analyze relationships between different parts of the codebase, ensuring better integration with existing development workflows.
🔒 Privacy & Security
Cursor
Cursor emphasizes privacy with an optional Privacy Mode that prevents code storage. The system processes sensitive information locally and maintains transparent data handling policies. No permanent storage of plaintext code occurs, and users have control over codebase indexing configurations.
Cody
Cody provides enterprise-grade security controls with repository-level permissions and organizational control over data access. The platform ensures secure context handling and offers scalable infrastructure, making it suitable for large organizations with strict security requirements.
💰 Pricing
Cursor
- Hobby – Free, includes 2,000 completions per month.
- Pro – $20/month, unlimited completions, fast premium requests.
- Business – $40/user/month, privacy mode, centralized billing, SAML/OIDC SSO.
Sourcegraph Cody
- Free – Basic IDE integration, limited code completion, single repository access.
- Pro – $9/month, unlimited chat and commands, access to more powerful AI models.
- Enterprise – $19/user/month, multi-repository support, team collaboration features, custom deployment options.
🏆 Verdict: Cursor or Sourcegraph Cody?
Cursor and Sourcegraph Cody serve different types of developers and teams:
- Cursor is best suited for developers who want a VS Code-integrated AI coding assistant with deep AI model customization. It’s ideal for those who prefer a dedicated, AI-powered coding environment.
- Cody excels in enterprise environments with its cross-repository support and platform-agnostic IDE integration. It’s particularly useful for large development teams managing multiple repositories and requiring enhanced security controls.
Regardless of which AI coding assistant you use, maintaining code quality is essential. If you're looking for a way to automate code reviews, Greptile’s AI PR Review Tool ensures better security, maintainability, and accuracy for your projects.