Great! Thank you!
I just referred to my friend, and yes he received a 50% discount on his first month (so $20 → $10). Besides, I received a $25 credits, and the UI says this: “Your account has a credit balance that will be automatically applied to your next invoice.”
Here are my questions:
1, Does this mean when the next month comes, I won’t need to pay the monthly $20 to continue accessing to Cursor Pro plan?
2, Or does the $25 can only be accounted for the On-Demand usages?
3, If ‘2,’ is the case, do I need to turn on the On-Demand option to make sure Cursor will use the existing credits instead of charging my bank account?
Please let me know your answers.
Thank you very much in advance.
Hi @Limm Thanks for post and I’'m happy to clarify these.
Referral credits are usage credits — they offset model usage charges only. They do not apply to your subscription fee - that will be charged as normal.
Cursor draws down balances in this order:
- Included monthly plan usage (your Pro plan’s included allowance) — used first
- Referral credits — used next, once your included usage is exhausted
- On-demand / overage usage — billed last, after referral credits run out
1, Will the $25 cover next month’s $20 Pro subscription fee?
No. The $25 credit will not pay your monthly $20 subscription. You’ll still be charged $20 to keep Pro active. Referral credits don’t reduce the subscription fee itself.
2, Can the $25 only be used for On-Demand usage?
Essentially yes — it offsets model usage charges, not your subscription. More precisely: the credit kicks in after you’ve used up your plan’s included monthly usage allowance, and before you’d be charged for on-demand/overage. So it cushions usage that would otherwise become on-demand charges — it does not touch the base subscription.
3, Do you need to turn on On-Demand for the credit to be used instead of your card?
No. The credit is applied automatically in the order above — included usage → referral credits → on-demand. You don’t have to enable On-Demand for the credit to be consumed; the credit is always drawn before any on-demand spend would be billed to your card. Turning On-Demand on or off doesn’t redirect the $25 toward your subscription, and it isn’t needed to “unlock” the credit.
Hey Kevin,
On the back of this, I’m a little confused as to when the credits apply to the account.
Is it on the next billing period of referral or is it on the current billing period?
So for instance, lets say my billing period is the 1st of every month.
If I refer 10 people in May, do I have to wait until June to get these credits or do they work in May?
The confusion is around the wording in the Cursor dashboard area: “Your account has a credit balance that will be automatically applied to your next invoice.” but then your referral scheme FAQs: “Send your friend a personal referral link or invite them by email. New Cursor users get 50% off at Stripe checkout for Pro, Pro+, or Ultra. After their first paid charge, you get on-demand credits that apply after your included usage and aren’t transferable or refundable for cash. If you’re on a self-serve team, you earn the credits personally — they go to your account, not the team pool.”
This suggests that the minute someone signs up, you get the referral credit, but the credit balance suggests it will be available in the next month.
Also there is no UI within the cursor settings that helps show this, in my opinion it should be clearly stated as “Upcoming Credit” or “Available Credit” and then shown within cursor itself / made more obvious as to the order that credits will be consumed.
Edit: thought of something else too - if I were to upgrade to pro+ it looks like it is not pro-rata. What would happen to my billing cycle and credits? How would this be applied if its a brand new cycle?
Hey Kevin, not sure if the message above replied properly to your latest comment, any news on this? Thinking about upgrading to pro+ but want to make sure my referrals should carry across.
Cheers, Steve 