For an open source alternative to Cursor, the first results are cursor/cursor (Cursor is an AI-powered code editor built on VS Code that directly matches the core category of an AI-assisted IDE with inline completions and chat, but its open-source license is not confirmed in the provided description), getcursor/cursor (Cursor is the definitive AI-powered code editor with inline completions and chat, but it is not open-source, so it falls short of the licensing requirement) and antimatter15/alpaca.cpp (Alpaca.cpp is a local LLM inference engine, not a code editor — it provides the underlying runtime for running models but lacks the editor interface, inline completions, and chat with codebase functionality you need). gitpod-io/openvscode-server and gluonfield/enchanted round out the shortlist. Compare the match explanations and check the project documentation against your requirements.
Find the best open-source AI code editors and extensions. Compare top alternatives to Cursor based on features and activity to pick the right one.
Cursor is an artificial intelligence-powered code editor built as a fork of the Visual Studio Code environment. It integrates machine learning models directly into the development workflow, allowing users to generate, refactor, and debug code through natural language prompts while maintaining full compatibility with existing editor extensions and themes. The editor distinguishes itself through a specialized codebase context engine that indexes local project structures and file relationships using vector-based embeddings. This system enables the editor to inject relevant file snippets and proj
Cursor is an AI-powered code editor built on VS Code that directly matches the core category of an AI-assisted IDE with inline completions and chat, but its open-source license is not confirmed in the provided description.
Cursor is an AI-powered code editor and integrated development environment built as a fork of Visual Studio Code. It functions as an AI programming assistant that integrates large language models directly into the editing experience to write, refactor, and maintain source code. The editor utilizes a customized version of the VS Code interface to provide native artificial intelligence capabilities, including an environment for natural language code generation and codebase indexing. The platform covers a range of AI-assisted coding capabilities, such as intelligent code completion, automated c
Cursor is the definitive AI-powered code editor with inline completions and chat, but it is not open-source, so it falls short of the licensing requirement.
alpaca.cpp is a high-performance local inference engine implemented in C++ for executing instruction-tuned large language models. It serves as a quantized model runtime designed to load and run model tensors on local hardware with minimal dependencies, removing the requirement for a full Python environment. The project focuses on on-device text generation and the deployment of private AI chatbots. It utilizes model weight quantization to reduce memory requirements and increase inference speed on consumer-grade devices. The system covers hardware-optimized model execution through thread-pool
Alpaca.cpp is a local LLM inference engine, not a code editor — it provides the underlying runtime for running models but lacks the editor interface, inline completions, and chat with codebase functionality you need.
OpenVSCode Server is an open-source project that runs the full Visual Studio Code editor as a web application served from a remote server, enabling development through any browser without local installation. It provides a browser-based IDE that combines containerized development environments, remote file system access, and server-side process management to deliver a complete remote development experience. The project supports the standard VS Code extension model, allowing plugins to add languages, debuggers, and tools without modification. It maintains real-time bidirectional communication be
OpenVSCode Server is a remote VS Code environment for browser-based development, but it does not include the AI-powered inline completions or chat features that define the Cursor-like editor the visitor is looking for.
Enchanted is iOS and macOS app for chatting with private self hosted language models such as Llama2, Mistral or Vicuna using Ollama.
Enchanted is a chat app for self-hosted LLMs on Apple devices, but it is not a code editor or IDE — it lacks inline code completions, codebase chat, and VS Code integration that this search for an AI-assisted editor requires.
Refact is an autonomous AI software engineering system and code assistant. It functions as an agent orchestrator capable of planning, executing, and managing multi-step development workflows to complete complex software tasks independently. The system distinguishes itself through agentic state management, using isolated worktrees and versioned checkpoints to allow autonomous agents to experiment with code changes and roll back to stable states if tasks fail. It further extends its capabilities via the Model Context Protocol, connecting the AI engine to external databases, version control syst
Refact is an autonomous AI agent orchestrator that manages multi-step development workflows, not a standalone code editor with inline completions and chat; it's a backend system that could integrate with an editor but isn't the editor itself.
TabNine is an AI programming assistant and large language model completion tool that predicts and completes source code in real time. It functions as a language-aware code predictor, providing automated line completions and code snippets based on the context of the current file and project. The system utilizes custom language mapping and programming language tokenization to ensure suggestions remain syntax-accurate across various file extensions. By defining how source code is broken into symbols and identifiers, the tool maintains consistent suggestions across a project's different file type
TabNine is an AI-powered code completion plugin that integrates into editors like VS Code, not a standalone AI-assisted code editor; it offers inline completions but lacks a built-in chat interface, local LLM support, and custom prompt commands, so it does not match the full category of an AI-assisted IDE.
Jan is a local language model desktop application and AI assistant orchestrator. It provides a unified interface for interacting with both resident models and remote cloud AI providers. The project functions as a host for the Model Context Protocol, connecting AI models to external tools and data sources. It also operates as an OpenAI compatible API server, exposing local models through a standardized server endpoint for other applications to query. The system supports the creation of specialized AI personas with custom instructions and allows for the management of hybrid model environments,
Jan is a local LLM desktop app and AI assistant orchestrator — it provides chat with AI models and local model support, but it is not a code editor and offers no inline code completions, codebase-aware chat, or VS Code integration, making it a neighbouring tool rather than the AI-assisted code editor you are looking for.
Tabby is a self-hosted AI coding assistant designed to provide real-time code completion and interactive chat capabilities within development environments. By functioning as a private server application, it allows teams to maintain control over their infrastructure and data while integrating intelligent code generation directly into their existing workflows. The platform distinguishes itself through its repository-aware knowledge retrieval and multi-model orchestration. It indexes local and remote source code repositories and technical documentation into a searchable vector-based knowledge gr
Tabby is a self-hosted AI coding assistant that plugs into editors like VS Code for inline completions and chat, but it is not a standalone code editor itself — it's a companion tool rather than a complete IDE replacement like Cursor.
Theia is a modular framework designed for building professional-grade development environments that function as both local desktop applications and remote browser-based services. It provides a comprehensive toolkit for constructing specialized coding tools, allowing developers to assemble custom interfaces and backend logic through a flexible, contribution-based architecture. The platform distinguishes itself through a highly extensible workbench that supports the integration of existing third-party editor plugins and standard language servers. By utilizing a dependency injection container an
Theia is a modular framework for building custom IDEs, not a ready-to-use AI-powered code editor with inline completions and chat; while it supports VS Code extensions and could theoretically integrate AI features, it does not provide them natively and is intended for developers to construct their own tools rather than being a standalone editor for end-users.
Qwen-code is an AI-powered development framework designed for orchestrating intelligent coding agents within terminal and IDE environments. It provides a comprehensive infrastructure for automating software maintenance, code generation, and complex refactoring tasks by managing multi-agent workflows and persistent session states. The system is built to handle both interactive development and automated background processes, ensuring that agents can execute shell commands and file operations safely within isolated, sandboxed environments. What distinguishes this project is its focus on granular
This is an AI-powered development framework for orchestrating coding agents within terminal and IDE environments, not a standalone code editor application like Cursor — it lacks the editor interface, inline completions, and chat features you’re looking for.
LiteRT-LM is a high-performance inference framework designed to execute large language models locally on mobile, desktop, and IoT hardware. It serves as an on-device model runtime that utilizes CPU, GPU, and NPU acceleration to provide low-latency processing. The framework is distinguished by its ability to process text, vision, and audio inputs through a single multi-modal inference engine. It features a local HTTP server that emulates OpenAI-compatible API endpoints and a WebGPU-based runtime for executing models directly within a web browser. To ensure output reliability, it includes a con
LiteRT-LM is a local LLM inference framework, not a standalone code editor or IDE — it provides a runtime for running models on-device but lacks the editing interface, inline completions, chat with codebase, and VS Code ecosystem compatibility required for an AI-assisted editor like Cursor.
| Repository | Stars | Language | License | Last push |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cursor/cursor | 33K | — | — | |
| getcursor/cursor | 33K | — | — | |
| antimatter15/alpaca.cpp |
| 10.1K |
| C |
| MIT |
| gitpod-io/openvscode-server | 5.9K | TypeScript | mit |
| gluonfield/enchanted | 6K | Swift | Apache-2.0 |
| smallcloudai/refact | 3.5K | Rust | bsd-3-clause |
| zxqfl/tabnine | 10.8K | Shell | MIT |
| menloresearch/jan | 43.1K | TypeScript | NOASSERTION |
| tabbyml/tabby | 33.6K | Rust | NOASSERTION |
| eclipse-theia/theia | 21.6K | TypeScript | EPL-2.0 |