Claude Code vs Cursor (2026): Which AI Coding Assistant to Choose
If you’re searching for “Claude Code vs Cursor”, you’re probably trying to answer a simple question: should your AI live in your terminal, or in your editor?
Both can be excellent. The difference is less about “which model is smarter” and more about how you want to work.
The quick take
Choose Claude Code if you like terminal-first workflows, want quick repo-wide changes, and are happy to drive with a few commands.
Choose Cursor if you want a tight IDE experience (inline edits, project navigation, refactors) and you spend most of your day inside a code editor.
If you’re working on a remote machine (a server, workstation, or a Zo Computer), Cursor can still work well—you just connect your local Cursor to the remote project over SSH (same pattern as VS Code Remote SSH).^1
What Claude Code is (in practice)
Claude Code is a CLI-first coding assistant.
Common strengths:
Fast “do a bunch of changes across the repo” tasks
Easy to integrate into scripts and terminal workflows
Works well when you already have a clean way to run/test your code from the command line
Common friction:
Less “editor-native” feedback (you’re not living inside an IDE UI)
You need to be disciplined about running tests / checking diffs, because changes can be broad
What Cursor is (in practice)
Cursor is an IDE-first coding assistant.
Common strengths:
Great for interactive refactors and incremental edits
Comfortable for long coding sessions where you want to keep context in one place (files, tabs, search, git UI)
Feels closer to a “pair programmer inside your editor”
Common friction:
If your project lives on a remote machine, you need a clean remote-development setup (SSH, dev containers, etc.)
How to decide: 6 questions that matter
1) Where do you want your “control surface” to be?
Terminal → Claude Code
Editor → Cursor
2) Are your tasks mostly “surgical” or “repo-wide”?
Surgical edits (tight feedback loop, lots of little tweaks): Cursor
Repo-wide changes (touch many files, repeated patterns): Claude Code
3) Do you need the AI to run commands/tests a lot?
Both can, but the ergonomics differ.
If your workflow is “edit → run tests → iterate” and you like seeing command output directly, Claude Code often feels natural.
4) How much do you care about inline diffs and previewing changes?
If your comfort comes from seeing changes inside the editor before applying them broadly, Cursor is typically the calmer experience.
5) Is your code local or remote?
Local project: either tool is straightforward.
Remote project (server/VM/Zo): Cursor can still work well if you connect via SSH and treat the remote machine as the source of truth.^2
6) Do you want autonomy (agentic) or assistance?
Cursor and Claude Code can both feel “agentic”, but if what you really want is autonomous multi-step work (write code, run commands, edit files, iterate until done), it’s worth considering an AI agent workflow that has direct access to your filesystem and terminal (the “agent in the machine” approach).^3
Using Claude Code or Cursor with Zo Computer (practical setup)
Zo Computer is a remote Linux machine you own. This makes it a good place to:
keep a project always available
run long-lived dev services
let an AI operate on the same filesystem where your code lives
Option A: Use Cursor locally, edit code on your Zo via SSH
Set up SSH access to your Zo.
Connect your local IDE to your Zo over SSH.
Open the remote folder as your workspace and work normally.
If you’ve done this with VS Code before, it’s the same idea—Zo has a step-by-step guide for remote IDE setup.^1
Option B: Use Claude Code directly on your Zo
SSH into your Zo.
Clone/open your repo in the terminal.
Run Claude Code against the repo.
Use your normal CLI tools to test/build/lint.
This tends to feel good when:
your project already has reliable CLI scripts (tests, formatter, typecheck)
you want to keep everything on the remote machine (no local toolchain fuss)
A simple recommendation matrix
| If you are… | Pick | Why | | --- | --- | --- | | A terminal-first developer | Claude Code | Minimal UI overhead; great for repo-wide edits | | An IDE-first developer | Cursor | Inline edits + navigation + refactors | | Working mostly on a remote machine | Cursor + SSH | Full IDE experience, remote source-of-truth^1 | | Optimising for autonomous multi-step work | Zo agent workflow | Direct access to files + terminal for iteration^3 |
Next steps
If your main question is “how do I work on a remote project from my local editor?”, start with Zo’s remote IDE tutorial.^1
If your real goal is “let the AI do the whole task end-to-end”, read the Zo tutorial on setting up an AI coding agent.^3
If you want to compare pricing/plan differences across tools, start with Zo’s pricing page for the “what does Zo cost?” part of the equation.^4