Cursor Start Is Now a Legacy Plan: What ₹649 India Subscribers Keep and What Replaced It
Cursor Start, the ₹649-a-month India plan launched July 28, 2026, is now a legacy plan. New customers choose The X Subscription, where Cursor names Plus ($8 a month before tax) as the comparable tier. Existing subscribers keep Start, its Cloud Agents and its monthly pool until they switch or cancel, and switching is permanent.
Cursor Start, the ₹649-a-month plan Cursor launched for developers in India on July 28, 2026, is now a legacy plan. Cursor's help page describes it as "a legacy Cursor plan for developers in India who subscribed before The X Subscription" and says new customers choose a plan on The X Subscription, where "the comparable tier is Plus" (Cursor help). If you already pay for Start, you keep it: "Your legacy plan, price, and features continue unless you change or cancel" (Cursor pricing help).
Key Takeaways
- Start is closed to new customers. Cursor introduced The X Subscription on October 12, 2026, and Start, Pro, Pro+, Ultra, Hobby, and Teams became legacy plans (Cursor forum; legacy plans). Our X Subscription coverage explains the new lineup.
- Existing subscribers keep Start at ₹649 per month, tax inclusive, billed monthly in INR through Stripe (Cursor help).
- Switching is permanent. Cursor says "Switching to The X Subscription is optional and permanent", and Start "can only be purchased while your account is on the free plan" (legacy plans).
- Plus is the named equivalent, but it drops Cloud Agents. Plus costs $8 a month before tax and runs Cursor's models "without Auto, Cloud Agents, Automations, Bugbot, Origin, or third-party models" (Cursor pricing help).
- A paid Start account is offered Premium or higher, not Plus, when it switches. Cursor says the Start-to-Plus pairing "is an analogy only" and the unify flow offers Premium and above (legacy plans).
- Start's models are unchanged: Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, Grok 4.5, and Composer 2.5, with the Grok models at a fixed medium effort in non-fast mode (Cursor help).
- When the monthly pool runs out, AI features pause until the next billing cycle. Start has no on-demand spend.
Should You Keep Cursor Start or Switch?
Keep Start if you use Cloud Agents and work within Cursor's own models. The tier Cursor names as comparable, Plus, does not include Cloud Agents, and once you switch you cannot return, because Start "can only be purchased while your account is on the free plan" (legacy plans). Switch only if you need something Start never had: third-party models such as Claude, GPT, or Gemini, Bugbot, Auto, or Automations, all of which start at Premium.
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| You use Cloud Agents and Cursor's own models are enough | Keep Start; Plus would remove Cloud Agents |
| You need third-party models, Bugbot, or Automations | Compare Premium at $30 a month before tax with what you pay now, then switch at cursor.com/unify |
| You often run out of the monthly pool | Weigh Plus or Premium's weekly pool against Start's monthly one; Start has no pay-as-you-go option |
| You are a new customer in India | Choose a plan on The X Subscription; Start is not sold to new customers |
Cursor's legacy plans page adds a caveat on the pairing it publishes: "Start to Plus is an analogy only: when a paid Cursor account switches, the unify flow offers Premium and above" (legacy plans). So a paying Start subscriber who switches should expect to be offered Premium or higher.
Cursor Start vs Plus vs Premium
Start differs from the current plans on price basis, pool timing, and features. Start's price includes tax and its pool resets monthly; The X Subscription prices exclude tax and its pool resets weekly and is shared with Grok.
| Start (legacy, India only) | Plus | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | ₹649 a month, tax inclusive | $8 a month or $80 a year, before tax | $30 a month or $300 a year, before tax |
| Who can buy it | Existing subscribers only | New and existing customers | New and existing customers |
| Included usage | One monthly pool for Cursor models | Weekly pool for Cursor models, shared with Grok | 4x Plus usage, weekly, shared with Grok |
| Models | Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, Grok 4.5 at fixed medium effort, plus Composer 2.5, all non-fast | The same Cursor models, Fast off and medium effort | Adds third-party models at API list price from prepaid credit |
| Cloud Agents | Included | Not included | Included |
| Bugbot, Auto, Automations | Not included | Not included | Included |
Sources: Cursor help on Start, Cursor pricing help, cursor.com/pricing, and Cursor's legacy plans page. Every price on The X Subscription excludes tax: "Prices shown do not include applicable taxes or fees (e.g. VAT)." The Cursor tracker keeps the full current lineup, including Super, Ultra, and Teams.
What Cursor Start Includes
Cursor Start covers Cursor's own models and Cloud Agents for developers in India, with a monthly pool and no pay-as-you-go overflow. Cursor's legacy plans page lists it this way: "It includes the Cursor Models pool, Cloud Agents, Cursor for iOS, plugins, MCP servers, hooks, and skills," and "Start doesn't include the Other Models pool, on-demand usage, Bugbot, Auto, Automations, or the Cursor SDK" (legacy plans).
| Question | What Cursor's docs state |
|---|---|
| Who can buy it | No new customers. Existing subscribers are developers in India who verified an Indian phone number. |
| Price | ₹649 per month, tax inclusive |
| Billing | Monthly, in INR, through Stripe |
| Payment methods | UPI (recommended for renewals) or Indian credit and debit cards with 3D Secure; India's card mandate rules apply |
| Models | Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, Grok 4.5, and Composer 2.5, all non-fast, Grok at fixed medium effort |
| Other features | Cloud Agents, Cursor for iOS, plugins, MCP servers, hooks, and skills |
| Not included | Other Models pool, on-demand usage, Bugbot, Auto, Automations, Cursor SDK |
| At the limit | AI features pause until the next billing cycle |
On models, Cursor's help page says: "On Cursor Start, Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, and Grok 4.5 all run at a fixed medium effort level in non-fast mode. You cannot switch between low, medium, and high effort, or turn on Fast mode." Cursor's Grok 4.7 page applies the same restriction to Plus: "On Plus and on the legacy Start plan (India only), Grok 4.7 is fixed at medium effort at standard speed" (Cursor docs).
On payment, Cursor's help page lists "UPI (recommended for reliable subscription renewals)" and "Indian credit and debit cards (3D Secure authentication is required)", and notes that "Indian card payments sometimes fail at checkout or on renewal because of bank declines or 3DS challenges." It adds: "Subscriptions use India's card mandate rules. Your bank may ask you to approve a maximum monthly charge when you subscribe."
How the Start Usage Pool Works
Start draws on one monthly pool for Cursor's own models, and when it runs out you wait for the next billing cycle. Cursor's usage documentation says legacy plans split included usage into a Cursor Models pool and an Other Models pool, and "Start covers the Cursor Models pool only" (Cursor usage help).
- Reset: "Usage resets each billing cycle. Unused usage does not roll over."
- Model cost: "Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, and Grok 4.5 draw from the same monthly pool as Composer 2.5, but consume usage faster. Grok 4.5 consumes usage about 3× faster than Composer 2.5."
- At the limit: "When you reach your monthly usage limit, AI features pause until your usage resets at the start of your next billing cycle."
- No overflow: "No. Cursor Start does not include on-demand spend or usage-based overages."
All four quotes are from Cursor's Start help page. Cursor still publishes no absolute request or token quota for Start, so you cannot budget against a hard ceiling. If you switch, Cursor says "Your usage moves from two monthly pools to one weekly pool for Cursor models, shared with Grok" (legacy plans); Start has only the Cursor Models pool, so for Start subscribers one monthly pool becomes one weekly pool.
What Cursor Announced at Launch
Cursor launched Start on July 28, 2026 as "a new plan for developers in India that includes generous access to Grok 4.5 and Composer for ₹649 per month" (Cursor blog). Cursor's framing: "It's a plan built to make agentic development in Cursor accessible, priced in INR at ₹649 per month, payable with UPI, and with generous usage for everyday building" (Cursor blog).
- First-party model access: Cursor said Start could run Grok 4.5 (its "most powerful Cursor model" as of that date, since superseded by Grok 4.6 and Grok 4.7) and Composer (its "most price-efficient coding model") (Cursor blog).
- More agent requests than Free: Cursor said Start has "More agent requests than the Free plan, across desktop, web, iOS, and the CLI, so you can build every day" (Cursor blog).
- Always-on cloud agents: Cursor said you can kick off long-running cloud agents that "build, test, and open pull requests while you keep working" (Cursor blog).
- Multi-surface access: Start works across desktop, web, iOS, and the CLI (Cursor blog).
- Extensibility: Cursor listed "plugins, MCP servers, hooks, and skills" as extension points for your workflow (Cursor blog).
At launch, Cursor positioned Pro as the tier for "every major model, including the most advanced ones from other labs." Pro is now a legacy plan too; Cursor's legacy plans page pairs Pro ($20 a month) with Premium ($30 a month) on The X Subscription.
Corrections and Updates
- October 19, 2026: this page described Start as a plan open to new subscribers in India and compared it with Pro at $20 a month on cursor.com/pricing. Cursor now sells The X Subscription; Start and Pro are legacy plans, and the pricing page lists Free, Plus, Premium, Super, Ultra, Teams, and Enterprise. The page now compares Start with Plus and Premium.
- September 26, 2026: an earlier comparison table on this page quoted the launch announcement as saying billing was "with UPI, credit card, or debit card". That wording is from Cursor's documentation; the announcement says "Pay in INR with UPI, credit, or debit card."
Sources
- Cursor, "Cursor Start" help documentation. Source for: Start's legacy status and the Plus comparison, the ₹649 tax-inclusive INR price and Stripe billing, India-only eligibility, the payment methods and card mandate rules, the model and effort restrictions, the monthly reset, the 3x Grok 4.5 figure, the pause at the limit, and the absence of on-demand spend.
- Cursor, "Legacy Cursor plans" documentation. Source for: the list of legacy plans, what Start includes and excludes, the purchase-from-free rule, the permanent switch, the "analogy only" note on Plus, the Pro-to-Premium pairing, and the move to a weekly pool.
- Cursor, pricing help. Source for: Plus and Premium features, annual prices, and legacy plans continuing unless you change or cancel.
- cursor.com/pricing. Source for: the Plus and Premium monthly prices, Premium's 4x usage, and prices excluding tax.
- Cursor, "Usage and limits" help documentation. Source for: the two legacy pools and Start covering the Cursor Models pool only.
- Cursor, "Grok 4.7" model documentation. Source for: Grok 4.7's fixed medium effort on Plus and Start.
- Cursor Community, "Introducing The X Subscription", October 12, 2026. Source for: the X Subscription launch date.
- Cursor, "Introducing Cursor Start", published July 28, 2026. Source for: the launch announcement, its feature list, and its description of Pro.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can you still buy Cursor Start?
Not as a new customer. Cursor's help page calls Start a legacy plan for developers in India who subscribed before The X Subscription, and says new customers choose a plan on The X Subscription, where the comparable tier is Plus at $8 a month before tax.
Do existing Cursor Start subscribers lose the plan?
No. Cursor says legacy plans are not available to new customers, but existing subscribers keep them until they switch or cancel. Your ₹649 price, monthly usage pool, and Cloud Agents continue unless you change or cancel the plan.
Should you switch from Cursor Start to The X Subscription?
Only if you need something Start never included, such as third-party models, Bugbot, or Automations. Switching is permanent, and Start can only be bought from the free plan, so you cannot come back. Plus drops Cloud Agents; Premium at $30 a month before tax keeps them.
How much does Cursor Start cost?
Cursor Start costs ₹649 per month, tax inclusive, billed monthly in INR through Stripe. You pay with UPI, which Cursor recommends for reliable renewals, or an Indian credit or debit card with 3D Secure. The price now applies only to existing subscribers.
What does Cursor Start include?
Start includes the Cursor Models pool (Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, Grok 4.5, and Composer 2.5) in non-fast mode, with the Grok models at a fixed medium effort, plus Cloud Agents, Cursor for iOS, and plugins, MCP servers, hooks, and skills. It excludes the Other Models pool, on-demand usage, Bugbot, Auto, Automations, and the Cursor SDK.
What happens when the Cursor Start usage pool runs out?
AI features pause until your usage resets at the start of your next billing cycle. Start has no on-demand spend or usage-based overages, and unused usage does not roll over. Grok 4.5 consumes the pool about 3 times faster than Composer 2.5.
How is Cursor Start different from Cursor Plus?
Start costs ₹649 a month, tax inclusive, with a monthly pool and Cloud Agents. Plus costs $8 a month before tax, draws on a weekly pool shared with Grok, and runs the same Cursor models at fixed settings without Cloud Agents, Auto, Automations, Bugbot, or third-party models.
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