Cursor AI Editor Faces User Backlash Over Performance Degradation and Reported 3000% Price Surge

Erwin, a user of the Cursor AI code editor, recently took to social media to voice significant frustration regarding the platform's performance and a drastic increase in its operational costs. In a tweet, Erwin stated:

"Cursor keeps breaking nowadays. Endlessly executes commands, keeps forgetting information (even when it 'saves it in memory')." This sentiment reflects a growing chorus of complaints from the developer community regarding the AI-powered development tool.

Reports across Cursor's official forums and platforms like Reddit corroborate Erwin's experience, detailing a widespread degradation in the AI editor's functionality. Users describe issues such as sluggishness, frequent freezing, and outright crashes, particularly when dealing with larger codebases or extended chat histories. Complaints highlight the AI's inconsistent behavior, including its failure to apply suggested code changes, loss of context, and a general decline in intelligence following recent updates, notably versions 0.46 and 0.49.

Adding to user discontent are concerns over pricing. Erwin's tweet specifically claimed:

"$20/day for it now. 3000% increase from before." While Cursor's Pro plan is typically advertised at $20 per month, the user's report of a daily charge and such a dramatic percentage increase suggests either a specific, high-usage tier or a recent, less transparent shift in billing for some users. This perceived lack of value for money exacerbates the frustration stemming from the performance issues.

The root causes of these performance problems appear multifaceted. Discussions among users and troubleshooting guides point to factors such as memory leaks, high resource consumption (CPU/RAM), and the challenges of processing large codebases and long chat histories. Some speculate that an increase in user base, possibly due to initiatives like free access for college students, combined with corporate pressure for higher returns, might be contributing to the service degradation.

The ongoing issues are impacting developer productivity and leading many to consider alternative AI coding tools. Users express disappointment, noting that the once-praised capabilities of Cursor are now hindering their workflow. The company faces increasing pressure to address these critical performance and transparency issues to retain its user base and restore confidence in its AI-powered development environment.