Cursor beats Claude Code in survey of 51 startups

Cursor or Claude Code? Over the past months, Reddit threads have lit up with debates comparing these two most popular AI coding tools.

For the startup leaders Tech in Asia surveyed, Cursor wins.

We gathered insights from leaders at 51 startups – 35 out of whom are CEOs – to see how companies are incorporating AI into their product and engineering work.

ChatGPT leads overall, getting 15 mentions when respondents were asked to name their favorite tools. It’s followed closely by Cursor with 14 and Claude Code with 10.

For most respondents, OpenAI’s chatbot is their go-to tool for writing, research, and brainstorming ideas. Some said it helps them come up with scenarios and edge cases that aren’t included in their initial product requirements.

But respondents left relatively brief feedback on ChatGPT compared to the detailed, enthusiastic answers about Cursor and Claude Code.

Khanh Phan, founder and CEO of Vietnam-based fintech platform Simplize, listed Cursor as his favorite AI coding tool because of its ability to switch between different models like GPT, Claude Sonnet, and Gemini Pro.

This allows his team to curb costs by selecting affordable models for routine tasks and delegating complex challenges to premium models.

“We avoid vendor lock-in, not tied to a single AI provider’s ecosystem, and ensure we can always leverage the best technology,” Phan said.

See also: Inside Cursor’s scrappy plan to win Southeast Asian developers

Meanwhile, Claude Code’s reasoning ability and scope surprise the tech team of Philippine buy now, pay later firm BillEase day after day, according to CTO Alec Gerona.

“We strike a balance between surgical prompting and letting it run wild to solve problems,” he explained.