VS Code + Claude vs. Cursor for Salesforce Development

8/10/2025

Building for Salesforce: Is a VS Code + Claude Setup Better Than Cursor?

Hey everyone, let's talk about something that’s been on my mind a lot lately: our development environments. Specifically for those of us deep in the Salesforce world. For years, VS Code has been the undisputed king. We’ve all got our favorite extensions, our perfectly tweaked settings, & our muscle memory for every keyboard shortcut. It's home.

But then, AI came knocking. Loudly.

Now, the conversation has shifted. It’s not just about the editor anymore; it's about the assistant inside the editor. This has led to a major fork in the road for a lot of Salesforce developers. Do you stick with the classic VS Code & bolt on an AI like Claude, or do you jump ship to a new, all-in-one, AI-native editor like Cursor?

I’ve been digging into this, & honestly, the answer isn't as simple as "this one's better." They represent two fundamentally different philosophies. So, let's break it down & figure out which setup might be the right call for you.

The Two Contenders: A Quick Intro

First, let's get on the same page about what we're actually comparing.

1. The "Classic Evolved" Setup: VS Code + Claude

This is the DIY approach. You take your trusty Visual Studio Code, the official go-to editor for Salesforce development, & you enhance it with an AI assistant. We're talking about installing the Salesforce Extension Pack, which is non-negotiable for any serious Salesforce dev, giving you all the tools for SFDX, Apex, LWC, & so on. Then, you add an extension that pipes in the power of a large language model (LLM) like Anthropic's Claude.

You might use a general-purpose AI extension like "Continue" or "RooCode," grab an API key from Anthropic, & voila, you have an AI chatbot & some code completion living inside your editor. The key here is that VS Code is the star of the show, & Claude is the supporting actor you've invited in.

2. The "AI-Native" Challenger: Cursor

Cursor takes a totally different approach. It’s not VS Code with AI added on; it's an AI editor built on the foundation of VS Code. This is a HUGE point that often gets missed. Cursor is a fork of VS Code, which means it looks & feels almost identical, & more importantly, it can use the entire Salesforce Extension Pack & your existing VS Code settings. The setup is a breeze; you just install it, & it can import all your Salesforce configurations.

But here, the AI is the main character. It's woven into every part of the user experience, from an integrated chat to features that can read your entire codebase & edit multiple files at once. It’s designed from the ground up to be an AI-first coding environment.

The Deep Dive: How They Stack Up for Salesforce Devs

Okay, let's get into the nitty-gritty. How do these two setups actually perform when you're in the trenches, writing Apex, building Lightning Web Components, or wrangling with SOQL?

Round 1: Setup & Familiarity

VS Code + Claude: If you're a seasoned Salesforce developer, your fingers already know VS Code. The setup for Salesforce is well-documented on Trailhead—you install the Salesforce Extension Pack, connect to your org, & you're good to go. Adding Claude is an extra step. You have to find a reliable extension, get an API key, configure it, & hope it all plays nicely. It’s not rocket science, but it's another thing to manage.

Cursor: This is where Cursor has a surprising edge. Since it's a fork of VS Code, there’s virtually no learning curve with the interface. But the magic is that it simplifies the setup. You download it, & it can automatically import your existing VS Code extensions & settings. So, your Salesforce Extension Pack, your themes, your keybindings—they all just show up. The AI is already built-in, so you don't have to configure a separate extension. You can choose different models (like GPT-4o or Claude 3.5) from a dropdown menu. It’s a smoother "out-of-the-box" experience.

Winner: Cursor, but only slightly. The seamless import process & built-in AI gives it a small but noticeable advantage in getting started quickly.

Round 2: AI Capabilities & Integration

VS Code + Claude: In this setup, the AI is typically confined to a chat window or specific commands. You can ask Claude to write an Apex class, explain a block of code, or generate a unit test. It's powerful, for sure. You can copy & paste code back & forth. Some extensions offer better integration, like inline suggestions, but it can sometimes feel a bit… detached. The AI is a consultant you're talking to, not a partner working alongside you.

Cursor: This is Cursor's entire reason for being. The AI is DEEPLY integrated. Here are some of the features that stand out for Salesforce development:

Code-Aware Chat: You can ask questions, but you can also reference files or symbols in your project directly in the chat using the "@" symbol. For example, "Can you create a test class for @MyApexController & make sure it covers the @calculateDiscount method?" This context makes the AI's responses incredibly accurate.
Inline Editing & Generation (Ctrl+K): This is a game-changer. You can highlight a piece of code—say, a clunky for-loop in Apex—and just type a command like, "Refactor this to be more efficient & use a Map." Cursor will edit the code directly, showing you a diff of the changes before you accept.
Composer (Ctrl+L): This feature lets you scaffold entire components from scratch. One user described creating a whole LWC, including mock data for a data table, just by giving Cursor a set of instructions. You can even point it to your flexipage file & tell it to add the new LWC, & it will update the XML for you.
"Rules for AI": You can give the AI standing instructions for your project. For example, you can set a rule that says, "Always use Salesforce best practices when writing Apex" or "When creating an LWC, always use SLDS classes." This helps ensure the generated code is higher quality & consistent with your standards.

Winner: Cursor, by a landslide. The deep, contextual integration of AI into the core editing experience is something a bolted-on extension in VS Code just can't replicate right now.

Round 3: Performance & Real-World Efficiency

This is where the rubber meets the road. Does this stuff actually make you a faster, better developer?

VS Code + Claude: Absolutely. Having an AI assistant like Claude in your editor is a massive productivity boost compared to having nothing. No more switching to a browser to ask ChatGPT a question. You can quickly generate boilerplate code, write SOQL queries, or get ideas for how to approach a problem. It speeds up the "thinking" part of coding.

Cursor: The testimonials here are pretty striking. One developer on DEV Community claimed that debugging Apex classes & LWCs went from a 4-5 hour task to just 1 hour using Cursor. Another video showed a developer building a functional LWC with a related data lookup in minutes by "chatting" with the Composer feature. Because the AI can read & edit your entire project, it's brilliant for tasks that involve multiple files, like creating an LWC which requires HTML, JavaScript, & XML file changes. The time saved isn't just from writing code faster, but from reducing the friction of switching between files & debugging silly mistakes.

This is also where a tool like Arsturn fits into the broader picture of business efficiency. While Cursor is optimizing the developer's workflow, businesses are looking for ways to optimize the customer's workflow. Think about it: we build complex Salesforce applications to manage customer data & interactions. But a lot of those interactions can be automated. This is where you can use a no-code platform like Arsturn to build custom AI chatbots trained on your own business data. These chatbots can then handle instant customer support, answer frequently asked questions on your website, & engage with visitors 24/7, freeing up human agents to deal with the more complex issues that your Salesforce app is tracking. It's all part of the same goal: using AI to create smarter, more efficient processes.

Winner: Cursor. The anecdotal evidence & feature set point to a more significant leap in day-to-day productivity for Salesforce-specific tasks.

Round 4: Cost & Flexibility

VS Code + Claude: VS Code is free. The Salesforce extensions are free. Your main cost is the API access to Claude. Depending on your usage, this can be a variable monthly expense. The big advantage here is choice. If you don't like the Claude extension you're using, you can switch to another one. If a new, better AI model comes out, you can probably find an extension that supports it. You're in full control.

Cursor: Cursor has a subscription model. As of late 2024, it was around $20 per month for the pro plan, which gives you a certain number of "fast" AI requests. They also have a free tier with limited usage. While you can choose different backend models (GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, etc.), you're ultimately tied to Cursor's platform & pricing. You're paying for the convenience & deep integration.

Winner: VS Code + Claude. It’s the more flexible & potentially cheaper option, especially if your AI usage is light. You have more control over the individual components of your setup.

So, Who Is Each Setup For?

Honestly, after looking at all of this, I don't think there's a single right answer. It comes down to your personality & priorities as a developer.

You should probably stick with a VS Code + Claude setup if:

You are a tinkerer: You love having granular control over your environment & enjoy customizing every aspect of your toolchain.
You are budget-conscious: You want to minimize your monthly subscription costs & only pay for what you use via API calls.
Your AI needs are simple: You primarily want an AI for chat-based assistance—asking questions, generating snippets—but don't need it deeply embedded in your editing workflow.
You are skeptical of new tools: You trust the battle-tested stability of VS Code & prefer to wait for newer tools to mature.

You should seriously consider switching to Cursor if:

You value seamlessness & speed: You want the most powerful AI experience right now & are willing to pay a monthly fee for a polished, integrated product that just works.
You work on complex projects: You frequently find yourself refactoring code across multiple files or scaffolding new components from scratch. The code-aware chat & Composer are HUGE time-savers here.
You want to be on the cutting edge: You believe AI-native editors are the future & want to leverage the latest advancements in your day-to-day work. The productivity gains reported by users are hard to ignore.
You want to improve customer engagement & lead generation on your projects: When you're building systems in Salesforce, you're often thinking about the entire customer journey. An AI-native tool like Cursor helps you build faster, & that mindset extends to the solutions you deliver. You might be more inclined to suggest tools like Arsturn, which helps businesses build their own no-code AI chatbots. These bots can be trained on a company's specific data to provide personalized customer experiences, boost conversions, & offer support, directly complementing the backend systems you're building in Salesforce.

Final Thoughts

Here's the thing: Cursor is a better AI editor. The integration is tighter, the features are more powerful for Salesforce development, & the workflow is just smoother. It feels like the future.

However, the "VS Code + Claude" setup is built on the platform we all know & trust, & it offers a level of control & flexibility that many developers value highly. It's a solid, reliable workhorse that's only getting better as new AI extensions are released.

My advice? Give Cursor a try. It has a free trial, & since it imports your VS Code settings, the barrier to entry is incredibly low. Spend a few days building an LWC or an Apex class with it. See if the workflow clicks for you. You might find, like many others, that it saves you a shocking amount of time. If not, your trusty VS Code setup will be right there waiting for you.

At the end of the day, both of these setups are miles ahead of where we were just a couple of years ago. It’s a pretty cool time to be a developer in the Salesforce ecosystem.

Hope this was helpful. I'm curious to hear what you all are using, so let me know what you think