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Next Termthe IDE for your AI agents

Next Term vs Cursor

Cursor is an AI code editor built on the VS Code codebase, for macOS, Windows and Linux. It comes with its own agent, Tab completion, models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others plus its own Composer model, and an Agents Window that runs many agents in parallel: locally in Git worktrees, over SSH or in the cloud. It needs a Cursor account, with a free Hobby plan and paid plans. Next Term is a free, open-source macOS terminal and editor that brings no AI of its own. It runs the command-line agents you already use, such as Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI, side by side, shows each one’s status on its tab, and lets one agent run the others over MCP. Choose Cursor if you want the editor, the models and the agents from one subscription. Choose Next Term if you want to keep your own agent CLIs and see them all at once. They also work together: Cursor’s agent can drive Next Term’s tabs.

At a glance

Section titled “At a glance”
FeatureNext TermCursor
PlatformsmacOS 13 or latermacOS, Windows, Linux
PriceFreeFree Hobby plan with limited agent requests; paid plans
Open source✓ MIT—
AccountNoneA Cursor account
AI of its own— Runs the agents you install✓ Agent, Plan mode, Tab completion, a choice of models
Agents from other vendors✓ Any agent that runs in a terminal; 20 recognised by namePartly: Anthropic’s Claude Code extension installs in Cursor
Several agents at once✓ Tabs and split panes✓ The Agents Window: parallel agents, local, cloud or over SSH
Status of each agent✓ On every tab: working, done, waiting (with the question), failed✓ In the sidebar, with a Dock badge for unread results
Cloud agents— Agents run on your Mac, or on your own servers in remote tabs✓ Cloud Agents in isolated VMs
MCP✓ An MCP server: one agent starts, prompts, waits for and reads the others✓ An MCP client for the tools you add
Code editor✓ 112 grammars, Go to File (⌘P); no language servers✓ A full editor on the VS Code codebase
Extensions—✓ From the Open VSX registry; imports VS Code settings and extensions
Reviewing agent changes✓ Side-by-side diffs, stage, unstage or revert per hunk; the Git Log and blame✓ A diff view to reject what you do not want, and Agent Review
Remote workPartly: terminal tabs on your servers over ssh, kept running in tmux or herdr✓ Agents over SSH, in WSL and in dev containers
The appNative Swift and AppKit, about a 16 MB downloadBuilt on the VS Code codebase

Choose Cursor if…

Section titled “Choose Cursor if…”
  • You want one product for the editor, the models and the agents. Cursor’s agent, Tab completion and model choice come with the plan; you do not install or sign in to separate agent CLIs.
  • You need cloud agents. Cursor’s Cloud Agents run in their own virtual machines, as many in parallel as you like, and you can move an agent between cloud and local.
  • You work on Windows or Linux, or on a remote machine over SSH, in WSL or in a dev container.
  • You want a full editor with extensions. Cursor is built on the VS Code codebase, takes extensions from Open VSX and imports your VS Code settings in one click.

Choose Next Term if…

Section titled “Choose Next Term if…”
  • You already use Claude Code, Codex or Gemini CLI and want to run them exactly as they are, under your own subscriptions, rather than through an editor’s agent.
  • You mix agents from different vendors. Each gets a tab, and every tab shows whether its agent is working, done or waiting on you. When an agent asks for permission, a notification quotes the question.
  • You want one agent to run the others. Next Term is an MCP server: an orchestrator can open projects, start agents in new tabs, send prompts, wait for them and read their screens.
  • You want no account and no lock-in. Next Term is free, MIT-licensed, about a 16 MB download, and on its own talks only to GitHub, for a daily update check, and to your projects’ own git remotes, to fetch. You can turn off either.

Use both

Section titled “Use both”

Many people keep Cursor as their editor and run terminal agents in Next Term on the same folder.

  • Edit and complete code in Cursor; run Claude Code, Codex and the rest in Next Term tabs, where their status, notifications and diffs (⌥⌘G) stay in view.
  • Let Cursor’s agent drive Next Term. Cursor reads MCP servers from ~/.cursor/mcp.json, in the editor and in its CLI alike. When that file exists, Next Term adds its own next-term entry there (Settings › Editor › Agents). Cursor’s agent can then start Claude Code in a Next Term tab, give it a task, wait for it and read the result. Otherwise, add a server that runs nxtrm mcp yourself.
  • Review in either. Agents write to the same files, so Cursor’s diff view and Next Term’s side-by-side diffs show the same changes.
  • Keep your keys. Next Term › Import Settings and Shortcuts… reads the keys you changed in Cursor and the settings Next Term has too, shows each change first, and undoes them in one click.

Questions

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Can I run Claude Code in Cursor instead?

Section titled “Can I run Claude Code in Cursor instead?”

Yes. Anthropic publishes its Claude Code extension for Cursor. What Next Term adds is the overview when several agents from different vendors run at once: a status mark on every tab, notifications that quote each agent’s question, and an MCP server through which one agent can run the others.

Does Next Term have Tab completion or a model of its own?

Section titled “Does Next Term have Tab completion or a model of its own?”

No. Next Term brings no AI and needs no account. Its editor colours code with 112 grammars and finds files fast, but completion and code generation come from the agents you run in its tabs.

Is Cursor free?

Section titled “Is Cursor free?”

Cursor has a free Hobby plan with limited agent requests, and paid plans above it; it needs a Cursor account. Prices are on Cursor’s pricing page. Next Term is free, with no account and no paid tier.

Can Cursor’s agent control agents running in Next Term?

Section titled “Can Cursor’s agent control agents running in Next Term?”

Yes, through Next Term’s MCP server, as described under Use both. Typing into a tab and closing one are marked as destructive, so the agent asks you first.

Read more

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Sources

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Checked October 2026 against Cursor’s own site and documentation. Products change quickly; if something here is out of date, please open an issue.

Next Term is free and open source under the MIT licence. Made by Mishuk Adhikari. This site uses no cookies, no trackers and no third-party requests.