With AI coding tools, first look at how you write code, then talk about which one to pick. People who change large repositories in a terminal every day, people who occasionally add a few lines in an editor, and people who just want to try it for free get completely different answers. Cursor, Claude Code and Antigravity are all strong, but strong in different places. Pick the wrong one and you pay dozens of dollars extra a month while working awkwardly. Below, the choice is split by scenario; prices follow the official sites, tiers may change, so check once more before paying.
Start with three kinds of people. The first writes code full-time and earns a living from it: the tool is open ten hours a day, and what matters is stability and a high ceiling. The second — product managers, marketers, students — codes as a side job, tweaking a script now and then or building a small tool, and wants a quick start without tinkering. The third has a tight budget and wants to test for free first, to see whether this is useful at all.
| Tool | Form | Entry price | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | AI editor | Existing users: Pro at $20 a month; new users go through the X subscription, Plus from $8 a month | Ready out of the box, smooth Tab completion, mature ecosystem | The new subscription setup is confusing, and third-party models are billed separately at API prices |
| Claude Code | Terminal agent | Claude Pro from $20 a month, including Claude Code | Steady multi-step changes across large repositories, runs tests itself until they pass | No graphical interface, pure command line, steep learning curve for beginners |
| Antigravity | Agent editor | Individual plan at $0 a month | Free to start, several models to switch between, tasks run in parallel | The free allowance refreshes weekly; once it runs out you have to wait |
Who should not pick which
If you would rather change code by clicking around in a graphical interface, skip Claude Code: it works entirely in the terminal, and at first everything feels like a command line. If your budget is zero but you want heavy daily use, do not count on the free Antigravity tier: its allowance refreshes once a week, and once it is gone you wait; the paid route is Google AI Pro at $19.99 a month. If you are used to the VS Code plugin ecosystem and cannot give up a particular niche plugin, Cursor is the safest. Conversely, if you only write small scripts and dislike installing an editor, Claude Code plus a terminal is enough, with no editor switch needed.
The decision rule is one line: try the free option first, then pay for heavy use. The Antigravity individual plan costs $0: use it for a week of real tasks first, and confirm that agent coding suits you. If you write code more than four hours a day and often change large repositories, go straight to Claude Code on the Pro tier at $20 a month. If you want a graphical interface with the smoothest completion experience, pick Cursor, but first check which models the new subscription actually includes, so you do not end up paying a separate API bill for Claude. If you have tried all three and still feel awkward, look at OpenCode, an open-source terminal tool: free, but you connect the model yourself.
