The user finds Cursor's UI not that great and not intuitive overall, suggesting a need for improvement.
๐งช Over the last 2 weeks, I tested the most popular AI code editors to find the best one. Thoughts? Any other editors I should try? Should I include extensions as well? ๐ฅ @cursor_ai is the overall winner and still my choice for the next couple of months. Breakdown: โ Great code quality โ Good pricing โ Good privacy โ Great file selection UI โ UI isn't that great and intuitive overall ๐ฅ @windsurf_ai is really closing the gap with Cursor and could be a viable option in a few months. For now, I'll stick with Cursor as the random code slip-ups and higher price aren't worth it. Breakdown: โ Some parts of the UI are better than Cursor โ Produces good code, sometimes even better than Cursor โ Good privacy โ Easy switch between chat and agent modes without losing context โ Sometimes produces hot garbage and doesn't know what it's doing โ UX and UI in many parts are worse than Cursor โ Slower to add new models and features like R1 and MCP โ File selection is a headache (auto-detect works but I like more control) โ More expensive than Cursor long-term (500 requests limit vs unlimited slow requests) โ @trae_ai has the cleanest editor, similar code quality to Cursor, and is free - but comes with huge privacy risks. If something's free, you're the product. Breakdown: โ Super clean UI - looks like a @jetbrains IDE โ Free Claude 3.6 which is insane โ Code output similar or on par with Cursor โ You're the product (it's free) โ Bad privacy policy (maintained by TikTok) โ They can resell your proprietary code Summarized Quote: "You grant to us, our affiliates and our third party partners an unconditional, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable, perpetual and worldwide license, to reproduce, use, and modify Your Content" โ๏ธ @trypearai is last place and I absolutely cannot recommend it. Complex, not usable and produces bad code. Breakdown: โ Good privacy โ Confusing and chaotic UI (just bad) โ Uses only external tools (5+ of them) โ Poor user experience, navigating is just a mess โ Requires local installation of tools โ Feels half-baked with all dependencies and just thrown together (the tools on their own a good) Note: @github Copilot and other extensions aren't included as I feel like editors still have advantages and are much better then extensions.