Cursor AI vs. Custom Claude: Best AI Coding Setup 2024

8/11/2025

Here's the thing: trying to figure out the best AI coding setup right now is a little like navigating a wild, exciting, & sometimes confusing new frontier. There are a TON of tools popping up, all promising to revolutionize the way we write code. Two of the most talked-about contenders are Cursor AI & what I'm calling a "Custom Claude+MCP Setup."

I've spent a good amount of time digging into both, & honestly, the "better" investment really depends on who you are as a developer & what you value most. Are you looking for a seamless, "it just works" experience, or are you someone who loves to tinker & build a system that's perfectly tailored to your workflow?

Let's break it down.

What Exactly is Cursor AI?

Think of Cursor as a supercharged version of VS Code that’s been rebuilt from the ground up with AI at its core. Since it’s a fork of VS Code, if you're already comfortable in that environment, the transition is almost painless. All your keyboard shortcuts & muscle memory will still work, which is a HUGE plus.

But Cursor isn't just VS Code with a chatbot bolted on. The AI is woven into almost every part of the editing experience. Here are the standout features I've found people buzzing about:

Context-Aware Chat: This is probably the biggest deal. You can open a chat panel & ask questions about your code. What makes it powerful is that Cursor can "see" your entire codebase. You can highlight a chunk of code & ask, "what's wrong with this?" or "how can I refactor this to be more efficient?" It’s like having a senior developer looking over your shoulder.
AI-Powered Code Generation & Completion: Like GitHub Copilot, it suggests code as you type. I've found its suggestions to be scarily accurate at times, especially for boilerplate stuff. It’s not perfect, but it can be a massive time-saver.
"Fix & Diff" Feature: When you ask the AI to make a change, it doesn’t just dump a block of code on you. It often presents the change as a diff, just like in a pull request. You can review the changes, accept them, or ask for modifications. This gives you a great deal of control.
AI-Assisted Debugging: It can help you diagnose errors by providing insights into what might be causing them & suggesting potential fixes.
Codebase-wide Answers: You can ask questions like "where is our user authentication logic handled?" & it can point you to the right files & even explain how they work together.

The Cost of Convenience: Cursor's Pricing

Cursor isn’t entirely free. They have a few tiers:

Hobby (Free) Plan: This gives you a taste, but you’re limited in the number of "fast" AI requests you can make each month. After you hit your limit, the responses can get noticeably slower.
Pro Plan: This is around $20 per month. It gives you a much larger number of fast requests (around 500) & unlimited completions. However, some power users have reported that they burn through those 500 requests pretty quickly, especially if they're coding all day, & end up paying for more.
Team & Enterprise Plans: These are priced per user (around $40/user/month) & come with additional features like centralized management & enhanced privacy controls, which is a big deal for companies worried about their proprietary code being used for training.

So, What's a "Custom Claude+MCP Setup"?

This is where things get a bit more interesting & a lot more DIY.

First, let's decode the acronyms. Claude is a family of large language models created by Anthropic, known for its strong reasoning abilities & large context windows. MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, which is a new, open standard also developed by Anthropic.

Here's the key idea behind MCP: it's a universal connector. It creates a standardized way for an AI model like Claude to securely connect to & interact with external tools & data sources. Think of it like a USB port for AI. Instead of having to build a custom integration for every single tool you want your AI to use (your terminal, your file system, a database, a web browser), you just connect them through MCP.

A custom Claude+MCP setup means you're not using a pre-packaged IDE like Cursor. Instead, you're building your own AI-powered environment. It typically involves:

The Claude Desktop App: This is a native application from Anthropic that lets you chat with Claude. Crucially, it has built-in support for MCP.
MCP Servers: These are small programs that expose tools to Claude. For example, you can run a
1filesystem
MCP server that allows Claude to read, write, & list files on your local machine. There are a growing number of open-source MCP servers available for all sorts of things:
- File System Access: Let Claude work directly with your project files.
- Terminal/Shell Access: Allow Claude to run commands, install dependencies, or execute scripts.
- Web Search: Give Claude the ability to search the web for documentation or answers.
- Database Connectors: Let it query your databases.
- Version Control: Enable it to interact with your Git repository.

Building Your Own AI Assistant

With this setup, you can essentially create your own version of Cursor's AI chat, but with a LOT more control. You could, for instance, open the Claude Desktop app & say:

"Okay, I need to build a new feature. First, read the ticket
1PROJ-123
from Jira (using a Jira MCP server). Then, create a new branch in my git repo called
1feature/PROJ-123
(using a Git MCP server). Now, create the following files in these directories... (using the filesystem MCP server). Okay, now write the initial code for the React component in this file..."

You're chaining together different tools to accomplish a complex task, all through natural language. It's incredibly powerful & flexible.

The Cost of Customization

This setup doesn't have a neat monthly subscription like Cursor. The costs are more variable:

Claude API Usage: While the Claude Desktop app itself might be free, heavy use will likely involve paying for Claude API access, especially for the most powerful models. Pricing is typically based on the number of tokens (words) you send & receive.
Setup & Maintenance Time: This is the big, non-monetary cost. It's on YOU to find, configure, & maintain your MCP servers. If a server has a bug or needs an update, you have to deal with it. The initial setup can also be a bit technical, involving command-line tools & JSON configuration files.

The Head-to-Head Comparison: Cursor vs. Custom Claude

Feature	Cursor AI	Custom Claude+MCP Setup
Ease of Use	Winner. It's a polished, integrated product. You download it, log in, & it just works. The learning curve is very low if you already know VS Code.	Requires significant technical setup. You need to be comfortable with the command line, installing packages, & editing config files. It's a hacker's tool.
Features	Excellent out-of-the-box. Deeply integrated AI chat, code generation, debugging, & refactoring. The "all-in-one" approach is its biggest strength.	Potentially limitless, but you build it yourself. The features depend on the MCP servers you install. You could replicate most of Cursor's features & even go beyond them, but it takes effort.
Customization	Good, but within limits. You can customize the VS Code parts of it & choose your AI models, but you're fundamentally using the Cursor framework.	Winner. This is the entire point. You have complete control over what tools your AI can use & how they interact. You can build a truly bespoke coding assistant.
Cost	Predictable monthly subscription ($20/month for Pro). Potential for extra charges if you're a heavy user.	Variable & potentially lower (or higher). Depends entirely on your Claude API usage. Could be cheaper if your usage is light, but heavy use could exceed Cursor's cost.
Maintenance	Minimal. The Cursor team handles all updates & bug fixes. It's a managed service.	High. You are responsible for maintaining your setup. When things break, you're the one who has to fix them.
"Wow" Factor	The "wow" comes from the seamless integration. It feels like magic when the AI perfectly understands your codebase with zero setup.	The "wow" comes from the raw power & control. It feels like you're building a personal AI agent that can do almost anything you can imagine.

Who is Each Setup For?

Honestly, the best choice comes down to your personality & priorities.

You should probably choose Cursor AI if:

You value convenience & time. You want a tool that works out of the box so you can get back to coding.
You're part of a team. The collaboration features & predictable pricing of the team plan are a big win for organizations.
You're not interested in tinkering with your tools. You see your code editor as a means to an end, not a hobby project.
You want a polished, user-friendly experience. The smooth integration within a familiar VS Code environment is hard to beat.

A custom Claude+MCP setup might be a better investment for you if:

You're a tinkerer at heart. You love customizing your development environment & pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
You have very specific, unique workflow needs. You want to integrate with tools or internal systems that a commercial product like Cursor would never support.
You want maximum control & flexibility. You want to be able to swap out models, add new tools on a whim, & build complex, multi-step AI automations.
You're on a tight budget but have time to invest. If your API usage is low, you could potentially run a powerful setup for less than a Cursor subscription, provided you're willing to put in the setup time.

And hey, for businesses looking to implement AI in other areas, like customer service, platforms like Arsturn are a great example of this "no-code" philosophy. Arsturn lets you build custom AI chatbots trained on your own business data. It helps provide instant customer support & engage with website visitors 24/7, all without you needing to become an expert in AI infrastructure. It's about taking the power of these models & making them accessible.

My Final Thoughts

So, which is the "better" investment?

For the vast majority of professional developers & teams, Cursor AI is probably the better investment right now. It's a mature, powerful, & easy-to-use tool that delivers a huge amount of value for its cost. The time you save by not having to build & maintain your own system is likely worth the subscription fee.

However, the Custom Claude+MCP setup represents the future. It's a glimpse into a world where developers can build truly autonomous AI agents tailored to their exact needs. It's more of a long-term investment in your skills & your personal workflow. If you're passionate about AI & love to be on the cutting edge, building your own setup will be an incredibly rewarding experience.

My advice? Give Cursor's free trial a spin. See how it feels. If you find yourself constantly wishing you could add just one more tool or change how the AI interacts with your system, then you know it's time to roll up your sleeves & dive into the exciting world of Claude & MCP.

Hope this was helpful! Let me know what you think.