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Antigravity vs Cursor in 2026: Google's Free AI IDE vs the One You Pay For
Google Antigravity is free with basic weekly limits and rides Google AI Pro at $19.99; Cursor runs $8 to $200. Here's which AI IDE costs less for you.
8 min read
Antigravity plans and models checked Oct 20–21, 2026 on Antigravity’s pricing page, models docs and overview docs. Google AI plan prices checked Oct 20, 2026 on gemini.google. Cursor prices checked Oct 15, 2026 on Cursor’s pricing page. All are linked under Sources. This page has no affiliate links (how we work).
Antigravity is free and Cursor isn’t, and that’s where most people stop reading. The catch is the meter. Google gives Antigravity’s free tier “Basic weekly rate limits” and publishes no number for them, or for any paid tier. Cursor sells multiples of a Plus allowance (4x, 15x, 50x) without printing what 1x is. Free tool with an invisible ceiling, or paid tool with a relative one.
There’s also a date to circle: on November 2, 2026, Google removes Claude Sonnet 4.6, Claude Opus 4.6 and GPT-OSS-120b from Antigravity. After that, Free and Google AI Plus users are left with Gemini 3.8 Flash only (Antigravity models docs, checked Oct 21, 2026).
We haven’t tested Antigravity or Cursor. Everything below comes from each company’s own pricing pages and docs.
TL;DR: Antigravity or Cursor, by situation
- Free tinkering: Antigravity. Free includes “Unlimited Tab completions” and “Unlimited Command requests”, plus agent models under weekly limits (Antigravity pricing, checked Oct 20, 2026).
- About $20, or you already pay for Google AI Pro: Pro ($19.99) unlocks Gemini 4 Argon plus Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Opus 5.5 in Antigravity (the Claude models on non-trial subscriptions only). Cursor has no $20 plan: Plus is $8 and Grok-only, Premium is $30.
- Heavy agent use: Cursor Ultra ($200, 50x Plus) or Google AI Ultra ($199.99, “20x higher usage limits vs. AI Pro”). Neither converts to a real number.
- A team: Cursor Teams from $30 per user. Antigravity for business goes through Google Cloud, with Gemini Enterprise seats from $30.
- Comparing more than two: start at AI coding tools compared or Cursor alternatives.
Price by plan
All USD per month, lined up by price.
| Tier | Antigravity | Cursor | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | Free, basic weekly limits | Free | Both pages |
| $4.99 | Google AI Plus | None | gemini.google |
| $8 | None | Plus (Grok only) | cursor.com |
| $19.99 | Google AI Pro | None | gemini.google |
| $30 | None | Premium (4x Plus) | cursor.com |
| $99.99–$100 | Ultra (5x Pro) | Super (15x Plus) | Both pages |
| $199.99–$200 | Ultra (20x Pro) | Ultra (50x Plus) | Both pages |
| Business | Cloud or $30/seat | From $30/user | Both pages |
| Annual | Not published | Not listed | Both pages |
Sources: Google AI plans (checked Oct 20, 2026), Antigravity pricing (checked Oct 20, 2026) and Cursor pricing (checked Oct 15, 2026). The coding-tool field is in AI coding tools compared.
Antigravity’s pricing page has no Plus card. Its docs put “Free & Google AI Plus” in one column with the same models, and say you can “upgrade to Google AI Plus, Pro, or Ultra for higher rate limits and optional AI credit overages” (Antigravity docs, checked Oct 21, 2026). Plus limits aren’t published.
Business buyers get Google Cloud “consumption-based pricing”, or Gemini Enterprise “Standard/Plus plans starting at $30 USD per seat per month” or a “Pay-as-you-go plan with $0 seat fee” (Antigravity pricing, checked Oct 20, 2026).
Cursor has been sold as part of The X Subscription since Oct 12, 2026 (xAI, checked Oct 14, 2026); see Cursor pricing.
Limits: “basic weekly” vs multiples of a mystery
Antigravity: Free gets “Basic weekly rate limits”. Google AI Pro gets “More rate limits” and a “Flexible AI credit pool”. Ultra gets “Even more rate limits” (Antigravity pricing, checked Oct 20, 2026). The Google AI plan cards say Pro has “Entry rate limits to agent model in Google Antigravity” (gemini.google, checked Oct 20, 2026). The docs show three meters in the app: “Weekly Limit Remaining”, “Five Hour Limit Remaining”, and a separate one for “Claude and GPT models” (models docs, checked Oct 21, 2026). Google publishes no number for any of them. We won’t guess one either.
Cursor: Premium is 4x Plus, Super 15x, Ultra 50x, Teams 4x to 50x, and the allowance “refreshes weekly” (Cursor pricing, checked Oct 15, 2026).
Antigravity is generous on Tab and Command (both “Unlimited”) and vague on agent work, the part you actually care about. Cursor is vague too, but in proportion: you know Ultra is 50 of something.
Models you get
From Antigravity’s models docs, checked Oct 21, 2026:
| Plan | Agent models |
|---|---|
| Free & Plus | Gemini 3.8 Flash; Claude Sonnet 4.6, Opus 4.6, GPT-OSS-120b (until Nov 2) |
| Google AI Pro | Gemini 4 Argon, 3.8 Flash, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Opus 5.5; 4.6 models and GPT-OSS-120b until Nov 2 |
| Google AI Ultra | Gemini 4 Argon, 3.8 Flash, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Opus 5.5; GPT-OSS-120b until Nov 2 |
| Enterprise | The above plus Gemini 3.7 Flash, 3.6 Flash, 3.1 Pro |
- The Claude 5.5 models on Pro are “Available on Google AI Pro for non-trial subscriptions only.” Gemini 4 Argon on Pro is now “Available with paid Google AI Pro plans or on trial with eligible premium devices” (checked Oct 26, 2026).
- Gemini 4 Argon is “Not available in Antigravity IDE. Available in the Antigravity App, Antigravity CLI, and IDE extensions.” Google’s newest model isn’t in Google’s own IDE.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6, Claude Opus 4.6 and GPT-OSS-120b “Will be removed on November 2, 2026.”
Google AI Plus costs $4.99 a month and gets Free’s model list plus “higher” limits Google won’t quantify. After Nov 2, that list is one model. Charging for an unnumbered “higher”, then pulling the models that made the free tier interesting, is a rough way to treat early sign-ups.
Cursor: Plus is “Only Grok models”. On Premium and up, Claude and GPT are available but billed at API list price on top of the plan (Cursor pricing, checked Oct 15, 2026). So Antigravity bundles Claude 5.5 into a $19.99 Google plan with unknown limits; Cursor lets you use Claude and sends you the API bill.
Antigravity CLI replaced Gemini CLI
On June 18, 2026, Antigravity CLI replaced Gemini CLI for consumer and free users (Google Developers Blog, checked Oct 20, 2026). The full story is in Gemini CLI vs Claude Code.
Platforms and editors
Antigravity: “Available on macOS, Windows, Linux, and Googlebook”, with four surfaces: the Antigravity App, CLI, IDE and SDK (antigravity.google, checked Oct 21, 2026). Google calls the IDE a “Fully-featured AI-powered IDE with Tab, Command, Agents”. It also ships extensions “into VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Zed, and Xcode”: “GA in VS Code & Visual Studio; Preview in JetBrains, Zed, and Xcode” (overview docs, checked Oct 21, 2026).
What Google doesn’t say: whether the Antigravity IDE is a VS Code fork or runs VS Code extensions. If your setup depends on one, check before switching.
Cursor: our dated notes don’t include Cursor’s supported operating systems, so check cursor.com for your platform.
Student pricing
There’s no separate Antigravity student price. There is a free Google AI Pro year for “eligible U.S. college students ages 18+”, redeemable until December 31, 2026. You need a payment method at sign-up, and Pro “will automatically charge $19.99/month after the trial ends” unless you cancel (Google students page, checked Oct 21, 2026).
The catch: Claude 5.5 on Pro is “non-trial subscriptions only”, and Google doesn’t say whether the student year counts as a trial. Argon’s note now allows “paid Google AI Pro plans or on trial with eligible premium devices”, which doesn’t mention the student offer either. Don’t count on them until they show up in the picker.
Here’s what I’d do
You’re curious and spending nothing: try Antigravity Free before Nov 2, while the Claude 4.6 models are still there. After that, judge it on Gemini 3.8 Flash alone.
You already pay $19.99 for Google AI Pro: start with Antigravity. Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5 come with no extra bill. Watch the “Claude and GPT models” meter for a week before deciding it’s enough.
You’d buy Google AI Plus just for Antigravity: don’t. Same models as Free, unpublished limits, one model after Nov 2.
You want Claude all day with predictable billing: neither is great. Cursor charges API list price; Antigravity rations it behind unnumbered meters. See Kiro vs Cursor, where Claude sits inside a published credit price.
Your team needs admin and billing: Cursor Teams from $30 per user is the simpler purchase; Antigravity for business means a Google Cloud conversation.
Plan history lives on the Gemini price tracker.
Plan maths for Google’s IDE: Antigravity pricing (Free vs AI Pro/Ultra).
Trying Antigravity before paying? Is Google Antigravity free? covers the free tier’s limits.
On Antigravity’s side, Antigravity usage limits covers how the 5-hour and weekly meters reset.
Looking at Kiro too? Kiro Pro vs Antigravity compares credits against Google’s quotas.
FAQ
Is Antigravity free? Yes, Antigravity has a $0 tier with “Basic weekly rate limits”, unlimited Tab completions and unlimited Command requests, per antigravity.google on Oct 20, 2026.
Do I need Google AI Pro for Antigravity? No, but Pro ($19.99/month) adds Gemini 4 Argon, plus Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Opus 5.5 on non-trial subscriptions, and higher limits.
Is Antigravity better than Cursor? It’s cheaper to start, but Google publishes no limit numbers, while Cursor sells clear multiples and bills Claude and GPT at API list price.
Can Antigravity use Claude models? Yes; Free and Plus have Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.6 until Nov 2, 2026, and Pro and Ultra have Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5.
Does Antigravity have a student plan? No separate one; eligible U.S. college students 18+ can get Google AI Pro free for a year, redeemable until Dec 31, 2026.
Sources
- Antigravity pricing (free tier, Pro/Ultra limits, business options): https://antigravity.google/pricing (verified 2026-10-20; free-tier lines seen again 2026-10-21)
- Antigravity models docs (models by plan, Nov 2 removals, trial notes, limit meters): https://antigravity.google/docs/models (verified 2026-10-21; Argon trial note re-checked 2026-10-26)
- Antigravity overview docs (Plus/Pro/Ultra upgrade line, IDE extensions and their status): https://antigravity.google/docs/overview (verified 2026-10-21)
- Antigravity homepage (platforms, surfaces): https://antigravity.google/ (verified 2026-10-21)
- Antigravity IDE product page (IDE description): https://antigravity.google/product/antigravity-ide (verified 2026-10-21)
- Google AI plans (Plus $4.99, Pro $19.99, Ultra $99.99 and $199.99, Antigravity lines per plan): https://gemini.google/subscriptions/ (prices verified 2026-10-20; Plus card verified 2026-10-21)
- Google AI Pro student offer: https://gemini.google/students/ (verified 2026-10-21)
- Google Developers Blog, Gemini CLI to Antigravity CLI: https://developers.googleblog.com/an-important-update-transitioning-gemini-cli-to-antigravity-cli/ (verified 2026-10-20)
- Cursor pricing (all tiers, weekly refresh, API-priced models, annual not listed): https://cursor.com/pricing (verified 2026-10-15)
- xAI, The X Subscription: https://x.ai/news/x-subscription (verified 2026-10-14)