Coincide vs Cursor: agent workspace or AI code editor

Facts about Cursor below come from Cursor’s site, documentation and CLI page. Cursor describes itself as “your coding agent for building ambitious software,” available as a desktop app, in the terminal, in Slack and in GitHub.

At a glance

	Cursor (the editor)	Coincide
What it is	A code editor; “Cursor is based upon the VS Code codebase” (docs)	A native Mac app for agent conversations, diffs and review; it opens your project in your editor when you want one
Platforms	macOS, Windows and Linux (download page)	macOS 26 or later, Apple silicon and Intel
Agents	Cursor’s agent, in the editor, the CLI and as cloud agents	Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Grok Build, OpenCode and Antigravity
Models	Models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Cursor and others, through Cursor (model list)	Each agent’s own models, with that agent’s sign-in; for Cursor, the models your Cursor CLI offers
Where agents run	In the editor, in the terminal, and as cloud agents that “use their own computers”	On your Mac

An editor versus a place for agents

Cursor puts the agent inside a full editor: you browse and edit files, and Cursor’s docs describe a one-click import of your VS Code extensions, themes, settings and keybindings. Coincide doesn’t edit code itself. Its window is organized around conversations: projects and threads in a sidebar, a transcript of what the agent did, diffs and per-turn checkpoints, a terminal and a browser per thread. The toolbar’s Open in button opens the project in the editor you choose, which can be Cursor.

Running Cursor’s agent inside Coincide

Cursor also ships its agent as a command-line tool, installed with curl https://cursor.com/install -fsS | bash, and documents an Agent Client Protocol mode so other editors can drive it. Coincide uses that: it starts cursor-agent acp with your Cursor CLI sign-in. In a Coincide thread, Cursor gets:

Its model list from the CLI, with a Default entry that follows your CLI’s own model, and effort levels where Cursor offers them. Picking a model in Coincide doesn’t change your CLI default.
Cursor’s own plan mode, its questions answered inline, and approvals, or full access through the CLI’s --force option.
A switch to another agent mid-thread, with a recap, and back again.
Your Cursor plan’s monthly usage in the usage dashboard.

Some things differ from the editor: a message you send while Cursor is working is queued rather than steering the running turn, and additional Cursor accounts in Coincide use Cursor API keys. Cursor in Coincide has the full setup and limits.

One vendor or several

Cursor’s docs list models from many providers, used through your Cursor account. Coincide runs each vendor’s own agent with your existing subscription to it, so a Claude Code thread uses your Claude plan, a Codex thread your ChatGPT sign-in, and a Cursor thread your Cursor account. Coincide never proxies or meters tokens. If you pay for several agents already, Coincide puts them in one window and lets a thread move between them.

When Cursor is the better choice

You want the agent inside a full code editor, with your VS Code setup.
You want models from several providers inside one tool, through one Cursor account.
You want cloud agents, or you work on Windows or Linux.

When Coincide is the better choice

You already use agents from several vendors and want them side by side, in one picker.
You prefer to review agents’ work as conversations and diffs, and edit in an editor of your choice.
You want open-source software, or Mac features around your agents, such as turns that keep running after you quit, scheduled tasks and Computer Use.

Many people will use both: Cursor as the editor, and Coincide to run Cursor’s CLI agent next to the others.

Checked on November 1, 2026 against cursor.com, the download page, Cursor’s docs, its VS Code migration guide, the CLI page and the ACP docs; products change, so check their sites. Cursor is a trademark of Anysphere; Coincide isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by Anysphere.