Claude Pro vs Cursor Pro: choose Claude Pro for coding, writing, and visual design. Measured on Cursor Pro, one pass of our fixed task set fits about 220 tasks a week with Composer 2.5. Both cost the same $20/mo. Prices are the providers' own list prices, and the verdict is ours rather than a score.Measured
Our verdict
Choose Claude Pro for coding, writing, and visual design. It includes Opus 5.5 in Claude Code, the clearer agent.
Choose Cursor Pro if you want the agent inside your editor and expect to switch between models. Cursor is the better place to experiment; Claude Pro is the better single assistant.
Claude Pro includes Opus 5.5 through Claude Code, the best CLI agent. Opus 5.5 does most of what Fable does on far less of the limit. That leaves little reason to pay for Max just to get Fable. Sonnet 5.5 is now the model for smaller things and simple tasks.
Pros
Opus 5.5 is really good and you can use it a fair bit on the $20 plan
Sonnet 5.5 for smaller things and simple tasks
Claude Code is the best CLI agent
Decent usage limits
Cons
Fable requires the $100 Max plan
Best for People who want the best coding subscription at $20.
How far it goes: we have not measured this plan
The Max 5x scorecards are the closest evidence, minus Fable: that model is Max-only, so the best agent this plan can run is Opus 5.5.
Cursor Pro lets you switch between providers. Its agent runs inside the editor, which suits people who still read and edit the code themselves. Composer 2.5 is not capable enough for serious work. OpenAI plans to leave Cursor on November 12, 2026, which will narrow the model choice.
Pros
Agent built into the IDE
Models from several providers
Cons
Composer 2.5 is weak
OpenAI plans to leave Cursor on November 12, 2026
Best for People who still read their code and want to switch between models.
How far it goes: about 50 times a month
Our whole real-world issues and spec planning pass runs about 50 times a month on this plan.
That works out at about 41c of the subscription per run, at the list price.
Measured on this plan, at 2.0%/1m of its allowance per run. A share belongs to the plan it was measured on, so we never subtract one plan's from another's.
Verdicts and prices are the quiz's versioned editorial catalog, last reviewed 2026-10-01. The plan cards keep measured evidence separate from the recommendation. Any other pair composes on the subscription comparison, and the quiz turns your answers into a recommendation.