Cursor Hobby (free) vs ChatGPT Free: choose Cursor Hobby if you want to find out what an agent feels like inside an editor. Both are free tiers. Prices are the providers' own list prices, and the verdict is ours rather than a score.Measured
Our verdict
Choose Cursor Hobby if you want to find out what an agent feels like inside an editor. It can open a repo and change files, while ChatGPT Free is mainly a chat product with a small Codex sample.
Choose ChatGPT Free for questions and drafts. Neither free plan is enough for regular agent work.
Most free tiers are chat with a demo attached. This one is a real agent editing your repo. The catch sits at both ends. Composer 2.5 is a weak model, and the requests run out within a few tasks. Use it to find out whether you like the workflow, not whether you like the model.
Pros
An agent that edits your repo, for nothing
The same agent and IDE as Cursor Pro
No card, nothing to cancel
Cons
A few tasks and the requests are gone
Composer 2.5 is not capable enough for serious work
OpenAI plans to leave Cursor on November 12, 2026
Best for Finding out if you want an agent in your editor at all.
How far it goes: we have not measured this plan
We grade the same Cursor agent on the $20 Pro plan - its scorecard is the closest evidence.
A capable chat app with a taste of Codex on the side. Ask it questions all day. Do not plan on it carrying work to the end, because the Codex allowance is tiny. If you want to try Codex properly, ChatGPT Plus at $20 is where to start.
Pros
Costs nothing
Fine for questions and drafts
Cons
Very little Codex usage
Real agent work needs a paid plan
Best for Occasional questions and drafting.
How far it goes: we have not measured this plan
Same Codex CLI family as the paid ChatGPT plans with tight limits - the ChatGPT Plus scorecards are the closest evidence.
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.