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Side-by-side comparison · Coding & Dev Tools

Cursor vs Factory vs Warp

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Cursor

3.9

From $8/mo

Factory

3.8

From $20/mo

Best overall

Warp

4.1

From $20/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Pick it if: Developers and curious beginners who want AI help but still want a visual editor.

Pick it if: Software teams that want AI agents to take tickets off the backlog and come back with finished pull requests.

Warp4.1
Best overallBest valueEasiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone who has to use the terminal but never wanted to learn it.

Overview

AttributeCursorFactoryWarp
In one lineA code editor with AI built in, for people who want to watch every change happen.AI coding agents called Droids that take on whole engineering tasks from your backlog.A modern terminal where you can type what you want in plain English instead of commands.
Pricing modelFreemiumPaidFreemium
Starting price$8/mo$20/mo$20/mo
Free plan Yes No Yes
Works with Claude Code No Yes No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeCursorFactoryWarp
Overall rating3.93.84.1Winner
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.0
3.0
4.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
4.5
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.0
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.0
3.5
4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0
4.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeCursorFactoryWarp
Access & platform
Free plan Yes No Yes
Mobile app Yes– No
Desktop app Yes Yes Yes
Browser extension No– No
API access– Yes–
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images Yes––
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code Yes Yes Yes
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style Yes– Yes
Works in many languages Yes– Yes
Capabilities score12/ 178/ 1710/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeCursorFactoryWarp
Plans

Free

Free

Trying the editor and a few agent runs.

Pro

$20/mo

A developer trying agents day to day.

FreeOur pick

Free

Everyone who just wants a better terminal.

Plus

$8/mo

Light users who are happy with Grok models only.

PlusOur pick

$100/mo

Developers who lean on agents all day.

Build

$20/mo, or $18/mo billed yearly

People who lean on the Warp agent daily.

PremiumOur pick

$30/mo

Most developers, especially if you want Claude alongside Grok.

Max

$200/mo

Heavy individual users.

Max

$200/mo, or $180/mo billed yearly

Heavy agent users.

Super or Ultra

$100/mo or $200/mo

Heavy daily agent users.

Teams

$60/mo per team plus $40/seat

Small teams up to 10 people.

Business

$50/user/mo, or $45/user/mo billed yearly

Teams that need SSO and usage metrics.

Legacy Pro

$20/mo

Existing subscribers only. New customers can't buy it.

Business / Enterprise

Custom

Larger companies with security requirements.

Enterprise

Custom

Large organisations.

Teams

From $30/user/mo

Companies that need admin controls and SSO.

Which plan to pickIf you are on the old $20 Pro plan and it covers what you use, stay put; switching is permanent. New customers should skip Plus unless they are happy with Grok. Premium is the realistic starting point if you want Claude, and budget for the extra usage billing on top of the $30. Large companies can ask about a custom Enterprise plan.Try Pro for a month to see if the agents suit your codebase. If you want Droids working in the background while you do other things, you need Plus.Stay on Free. The terminal is the product, and you can run Claude Code inside it on your Claude subscription without paying Warp anything. Only buy Build if you find yourself using Warp's own agent more than Claude Code.

Key features

AttributeCursorFactoryWarp
Standout features
  • Tab autocomplete
  • Agent mode
  • Chat with your codebase
  • Cloud agents and automations
  • Rules
  • Built on VS Code
  • Droids
  • Start work from anywhere
  • Droid Computers
  • Missions and automations
  • Choice of models
  • Public API and SDK
  • Plain-English commands
  • A proper text editor for commands
  • Blocks and searchable history
  • Warp agent
  • Home for other agents
  • Shared workflows

Pros and cons

AttributeCursorFactoryWarp
Pros
  • The clearest view of what an AI is doing to your code
  • Autocomplete is still the best in the category
  • Feels familiar instantly if you have used VS Code
  • Cloud agents and code review on the mid plans
  • Start agent work from tickets and chat, not only the terminal
  • Use models from several AI companies in one tool
  • Can fall back to free open models when you hit your limit
  • Strong enterprise options: SSO, zero retention, on-premise
  • The best-looking and most forgiving terminal available
  • Plain-English commands remove the biggest barrier for beginners
  • Free for the terminal itself, with your own AI keys allowed
  • Fast, and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux
Cons
  • Cheap plans only give you Grok models
  • Claude usage is billed on top of the subscription at API prices, so the real cost is hard to predict
  • OpenAI models are due to leave Cursor, which narrows the model choice
  • You now buy it bundled with Grok and X Premium, whether you want them or not
  • Agent runs are less thorough than Claude Code on big tasks
  • Rolling usage limits make monthly cost hard to predict, and premium models eat them fast
  • Background cloud agents need the $100 plan
  • Less transparent about what context it's using than Claude Code
  • Only useful if you have developers to review its work
  • Its own agent is a step behind Claude Code and Codex
  • Metered agent usage on paid plans runs out faster than you expect
  • You need an account to use it, which some developers dislike
  • Not an editor, so you still need another tool to browse files

Who each one is for

AttributeCursorFactoryWarp
Best for
  • Editing with AI autocomplete
  • Learning by watching changes happen
  • Multi-file changes in agent mode
  • Developers who like VS Code
  • Working through backlog tickets in the background
  • Bug fixes and small features from Jira or Linear
  • Automated pull request reviews
  • Teams that want to mix AI models
  • Recurring engineering chores like docs and tests
  • A nicer home for Claude Code
  • Plain-English commands
  • Searchable command history
  • Sharing commands with your team
You'll find it used by
  • Developers
  • Startup teams
  • Students
  • Technical founders
  • Software teams
  • Engineering managers
  • Developers
  • Platform and DevOps teams
  • Developers
  • Ops teams
  • Terminal beginners
  • Founders

Questions people ask

Which is better, Cursor, Factory or Warp?

Warp scores highest overall in our ratings (Cursor 3.9/5, Factory 3.8/5 and Warp 4.1/5). Cursor is best for editing with AI autocomplete and learning by watching changes happen. Factory is best for working through backlog tickets in the background and bug fixes and small features from Jira or Linear. Warp is best for A nicer home for Claude Code and Plain-English commands.

Which is cheaper, Cursor, Factory or Warp?

Cursor: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/mo. Factory: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $20/mo. Warp: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo.

Which is easier to use, Cursor, Factory or Warp?

Warp rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who has to use the terminal but never wanted to learn it.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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