As AI-powered developer tools continue to reshape how we write and optimize code, Cursor and Replit have become two prominent solutions, each offering unique advantages to developers. While Cursor enhances the traditional desktop experience by integrating AI with VS Code, Replit provides a full cloud-based development environment with integrated AI capabilities.
For developers who rely on desktop IDEs like VS Code, Cursor offers a powerful, context-aware experience, perfect for those working with larger, complex codebases. Replit, on the other hand, is ideal for cloud-based development, collaboration, and quick prototyping, particularly for teams and individuals who prefer a more accessible, browser-first approach.
In addition to these AI tools, maintaining high-quality code remains essential. Greptile complements both tools with AI-powered code reviews, ensuring better code quality, security, and maintainability across your projects. This comparison will help you decide which tool fits best for your development needs.
🛠️ Feature Comparison
📝 Code Completion
Cursor
Cursor offers sophisticated code completion through its Cursor Tab feature, providing multi-line code suggestions and modifications. The system can suggest entire code blocks and even modify existing code based on context. Users can partially accept suggestions using Ctrl/⌘ →, with free users getting 2,000 suggestions and Pro users enjoying unlimited access.
Replit
Replit's Complete Code feature provides contextual code suggestions activated by the tab key. While more basic than Cursor's implementation, it integrates seamlessly with the development environment and offers real-time suggestions based on the current context.
💬 AI Chat Capabilities
Cursor
Cursor's AI chat system is highly sophisticated, offering context-aware code discussions with support for multiple AI models. It preserves chat history, automatically includes relevant file context, and features web search capabilities. The chat interface is customizable and includes instant code block application functionality.
Replit
Replit's AI Chat provides real-time coding help directly within the workspace. It allows for continuous dialogue about code-related questions and integrates with other features like code explanation and generation. While functional, it appears less feature-rich than Cursor's implementation.
📂 Context Awareness
Cursor
Cursor excels in context awareness with automatic indexing of codebases, embeddings-based search for accurate code references, and customizable indexing rules via .cursorignore. The system maintains a comprehensive understanding of the entire codebase for more accurate suggestions.
Replit
Replit's context awareness is primarily focused on the current file and immediate workspace. While it provides contextual assistance, it doesn't offer the same level of comprehensive codebase understanding as Cursor.
🔒 Privacy and Security
Cursor
Cursor emphasizes privacy with an optional Privacy Mode, no permanent storage of plaintext code, and local processing of sensitive information. It offers transparent data handling policies and configurable codebase indexing, making it suitable for sensitive development work.
Replit
The documentation doesn't provide detailed information about Replit's privacy measures, though it's noted that code and prompts are processed through AI systems. This suggests a more cloud-centric approach with potentially less privacy control than Cursor.
💸 Pricing
Cursor
- Hobby
- Free for individual users
- Pro two-week trial
- 2,000 completions
- 50 slow premium requests
- Pro
- $20 per month
- Unlimited completions
- 500 fast premium requests
- Unlimited slow premium requests
- 10 o1-mini uses per day
- Business
- $40 per user, per month
- Enforce privacy mode org-wide
- Centralized team billing
- Admin dashboard with usage stats
- SAML/OIDC SSO
Replit AI
- Free Plan
- Free for individuals
- Access to basic AI features
- Standard code completion
- Basic AI assistance
- Replit Core
- $15 per month
- Exclusive access to advanced AI models
- Enhanced AI features
- More powerful code generation capabilities
🏆 Verdict: Which One Should You Pick?
Choose Cursor if:
- You prefer a traditional desktop IDE experience with advanced AI features and deep codebase understanding.
- You need multi-line code suggestions, test generation, and real-time code completions.
- You are working on larger, more complex projects and need tools like privacy mode, team billing, and SAML/OIDC SSO support.
Choose Replit if:
- You're looking for an easy-to-use cloud-based development environment for quick prototyping, learning, or collaboration.
- You prefer a simplified workflow with browser-based coding and need basic AI-driven code assistance.
- You want affordable and flexible cloud-based AI tools with easy setup and integrated collaboration features.
Regardless of which tool you choose, maintaining code quality and security is essential. Greptile provides automated AI-powered code reviews to ensure better code quality, security, and maintainability across your projects.