I’m trying to wrap my head around Cursor’s current pricing model after the recent changes.
From what I understand, the $20/month Pro subscription doesn’t actually give any extra credit — it just preloads $20 worth of usage for the month. If you use less, the leftover credit disappears; if you use more, you pay the difference at the regular usage-based rate.
So… what’s the point of subscribing?
- There’s no real “discount” — the $20 credit equals exactly what I paid.
- There’s no real “bonus” — unused credit expires, and extra usage costs more.
- The so-called “included usage” is basically my own money, just locked behind a subscription.
- And now Auto mode counts toward that credit anyway.
Unless I’m missing something big, this setup seems worse than just going fully pay-as-you-go, where I’d have full flexibility and transparency without the monthly or even yearly prepayment.
Am I misunderstanding how the Pro plan works? Does it actually offer any economic or functional advantage beyond priority access and model availability?
I’d love to hear how others in the community see this — has anyone found a practical reason to stay subscribed under the new system?