Cursor vs Roo Code
A side-by-side comparison of Cursor and Roo Code, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
At a glance
| Attribute | Cursor | Roo Code |
|---|---|---|
| Category (differs) | IDE | Agent |
| Pricing | FREEMIUM | FREEMIUM |
| License (differs) | Proprietary | Open core |
| Deployment (differs) | Local | — |
| Platforms (differs) | macOS, Windows, Linux | VS Code extension |
| Model support (differs) | Multi-model | BYO key / model |
| Vendor (differs) | Anysphere | Roo Code |
The honest brief
Cursor
Pioneered agentic, multi-file editing in a familiar VS Code fork — frontier models bundled, no API key wrangling.
- Inherits the VS Code extension ecosystem
- Frontier models bundled in one plan
- Strong multi-file agent + tab completion
- BYO key supported
- Closed source (the editor itself)
- Heavier on usage limits at higher tiers
- No first-party Linux/mobile parity gaps
Roo Code
Forked from Cline to push harder on autonomy and configurability, staying fully open and model-agnostic with no vendor lock-in.
- Custom role-based modes with own prompts
- Modes hand off mid-task
- Run frontier APIs or a local model
- Direct file and terminal access
- API token costs are on you
- Autonomy needs careful approval review
- Centered on VS Code and forks