Claude Code
Anthropic's terminal-native coding agent with MCP-native tool use and skills system.
- License
- proprietary
- Install
- npm package
- Website
- https://claude.com/claude-code
- GitHub
- https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
Cursor
AI-first code editor built on VS Code with Claude + GPT support and MCP.
- License
- proprietary
- Install
- external link
- Website
- https://cursor.com
- GitHub
- https://github.com/getcursor/cursor
https://cursor.com/download
When to reach for which
Claude Code — Anthropic's terminal-native coding agent with MCP-native tool use and skills system.
Cursor — AI-first code editor built on VS Code with Claude + GPT support and MCP.
Both sit in the AI Coding Agents category — they're substitutes, not complements. Pick by your install constraint (MCP-native, license, hosting model) and which tag overlap matters most to your stack.