Pick Cursor for a stable, polished, all-day editor you can trust right now. Pick Google Antigravity if you want to work at the agent-orchestration level, value Trust Artifacts and built-in browser verification, and don't mind bleeding-edge rough edges. Cursor is the safer daily driver; Antigravity is the more ambitious glimpse of where IDEs are heading.
The short answer
They're both VS Code forks, but they aim at different jobs. Cursor is editor-first: you write code with a superb agent and completions assisting you. Antigravity is agent-first: you brief agents from a Manager surface and they plan, write, test and debug while you supervise. That's a real philosophical split, not just a feature difference.
The trade-off is maturity. Cursor is a proven, stable product millions rely on daily. Antigravity, launched in November 2025, is doing something harder and shows it — the ideas are ahead of the polish.
Antigravity vs Cursor: head-to-head
| Dimension | Google Antigravity | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Agent-first (Manager surface) | Editor-first (agent + completions) |
| Default models | Gemini 3.1 Pro, Claude Opus 4.6 | Frontier models incl. Claude, GPT |
| Browser verification | Built-in Chromium | Via extensions / MCP |
| Reviewability | Trust Artifacts (plans, screenshots) | Diffs and chat history |
| Stability | Rough, improving | Mature and polished |
| Entry price | Free / $20 Pro / $249.99 Ultra | Free / $20 Pro / higher tiers |
Where Antigravity wins
Antigravity wins on ambition and verification. Its Trust Artifacts — task lists, implementation plans and screenshots — make agent work genuinely reviewable, which is the missing piece in most autonomous tools. And the built-in Chromium browser lets an agent load a page, click through a change and screenshot the result to confirm its own front-end work visually.
The Manager surface and multi-model setup (Gemini 3.1 Pro plus Claude Opus 4.6) let you orchestrate several agents at once and operate at a higher level than line-by-line editing. When it clicks, it feels like directing a small team. Full detail in our Google Antigravity review.
Where Cursor wins
Cursor wins where it counts for daily work: stability and polish. Inline edits, tab completion and the Composer agent are the smoothest in the category, background cloud agents handle fire-and-forget tasks, and the whole thing just works, day after day, without the stalls and credit surprises reviewers hit on Antigravity.
It's also model-flexible and battle-tested at scale. For most developers who need to ship, that reliability outweighs Antigravity's more novel ideas. Our Cursor review rates it 4.6/5, and the Cursor pricing guide breaks down its credit system.
Pricing and limits
The entry tiers line up: both offer a free option and a $20/mo plan (Cursor Pro, Antigravity AI Pro). The difference is what happens above that. Antigravity jumps to a steep $249.99 Ultra with no middle tier and an opaque credit system that can drain fast, so heavy agent users may buy credit packs or face the Ultra bill quickly.
Cursor's higher tiers (Pro+ and Ultra) scale more gradually, and its credit model, while its own source of complaints, is better understood. For predictable spend, Cursor currently has the edge; for the free-tier tire-kick, both are worth trying.
Which should you pick?
Pick Cursor if: you need a reliable, polished editor for daily shipping, you want predictable pricing, and you'd rather not babysit a bleeding-edge tool. For most developers, it's the right main driver.
Pick Antigravity if: you're deep in the Google/Gemini ecosystem, you want agent orchestration and front-end browser verification, and you're comfortable on the frontier. Its Trust Artifacts make autonomy less scary than it sounds.
The pragmatic answer for many is both — Cursor for everyday coding, Antigravity for orchestration and visual checks on specific tasks. To place them against the field, see the best AI coding assistants roundup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Antigravity or Cursor better?
Cursor is the better all-day driver — more stable, more polished and a proven daily editor. Antigravity is more ambitious, with agent orchestration, Trust Artifacts and built-in browser verification, but it's less stable. Most developers run Cursor as the main tool and Antigravity as a complement.
What does Antigravity do that Cursor doesn't?
Antigravity is agent-first: a Manager surface orchestrates multiple autonomous agents, Trust Artifacts document their work with plans and screenshots, and a built-in Chromium browser lets agents visually verify front-end changes. Cursor is an editor-first tool with a strong agent bolted in.
Which is cheaper?
Both have a $20/mo tier (Cursor Pro, Antigravity AI Pro) and a free option. Antigravity's next step up is a steep $249.99 Ultra with a credit system, while Cursor's Pro+/Ultra tiers scale more gradually. For most users the $20 tiers are comparable.
Is Antigravity stable enough for daily work?
It's improving but still rough — reviewers report stalls, flakiness and a fast-draining credit meter. For mission-critical daily coding, Cursor is the safer choice today. Antigravity suits early adopters comfortable on the bleeding edge.
Can I use both?
Yes, and many do. A common setup is Cursor for everyday editing and Antigravity for agent orchestration and front-end verification on specific tasks. They're both VS Code forks, so switching between them is easy.