Cursor Joined the X Subscription, and Claude and GPT Now Bill at API Prices
Quick verdict
Cursor is now part of the X Subscription, the bundle that also covers Grok and X Premium. If you only run Grok models, the new plans look generous: paid tiers share a single weekly usage pool across Cursor and Grok Build, with twice the coding usage on Grok as the equivalent old Cursor plan. The catch is for everyone else. On the new plans, third-party models like Claude, GPT and Gemini are no longer bundled. They bill at API list prices from the first token, drawn from a prepaid balance. If Claude is your daily driver in Cursor, this is a price increase dressed up as a bundle.
What actually changed
Cursor announced it is now a part of the X Subscription. Existing subscribers are not forced anywhere: your current plan, price and features continue unless you switch or cancel. But the new plans restructure how models are paid for.
- Paid plans share one weekly included usage pool across Cursor, Grok Build and other Grok products, instead of Cursor metering its own limits.
- You get roughly twice the coding usage on Grok models compared with the equivalent old Cursor plan.
- Outside models are not included in any tier. You can still pick Claude, GPT or Gemini inside Cursor, but they bill at the model's API list price from first use, paid out of prepaid credit.
- You can set spending caps on those charges so a runaway agent loop does not drain the balance.
The tier ladder, as reported by outlets that read the rollout docs, runs Free at $0, Plus at $8, Premium at $30, Super at $100 and Ultra at $200 a month. Plus is Grok models only. Premium is the first tier that opens non-Grok models inside Cursor, and it carries about four times the usage of Plus. Switching is a one-way door: Cursor says the move is permanent, it cancels your existing Cursor, SuperGrok and paid X Premium subscriptions at checkout with a prorated refund, and support cannot undo it.
Why it matters for your bill
The headline reads like more for less, and for a Grok-only workflow it mostly is. The quiet part is the model split. Bundling Grok while pushing Claude, GPT and Gemini onto metered API pricing is a strong nudge toward the house model. A developer who lived on Claude inside a flat Cursor plan now watches a prepaid balance tick down with every request, at list prices that used to be absorbed by the subscription.
That is the number to run before you switch. Pull a week of your own usage and ask which models actually did the work. If it is mostly Grok, the new pool is a real upgrade. If it is mostly Claude or GPT, metered API billing can cost more than the flat plan you are on now, and the savings on Grok usage you were not using do not make that back. The pattern is familiar from every platform that ships its own model next to third-party ones: the first-party option is included, the rest meter. See our breakdown of what AI subscriptions actually cost for how to price this out against your real workload.
There is one more wrinkle for teams. A newsletter that read the fine print reports an extra per-token surcharge on outside model requests for team plans, with first-party models like Grok and Composer exempt. Cursor's own announcement does not spell this out, so treat it as unconfirmed, but it points the same direction: first-party is cheap, third-party is where the meter runs.
Video: the X Subscription explained
A walkthrough of how the bundle stitches Grok, Cursor and X Premium together, and where the costs land.
FAQ
Do I have to switch to the X Subscription?
No. Cursor says existing plans keep their current price and features unless you switch or cancel. The switch is optional, and it is permanent once made, so there is no rush to opt in.
Will Claude and GPT cost more inside Cursor now?
On the new X Subscription plans, yes, in the sense that they are no longer bundled. They bill at API list prices from your prepaid balance rather than coming out of a flat monthly allowance. Whether that is more than you pay today depends on how heavily you lean on non-Grok models.
Which plan opens third-party models?
Premium, at $30 a month, is the first tier that lets you use third-party models in Cursor. The cheaper Plus tier at $8 is restricted to Grok models.
Is there a cheaper way to use multiple models without juggling plans?
If the reason you want several models is to pick the best one per task without paying for each separately, a multi-model aggregator is worth a look. See the best AI aggregators and how to stop overpaying for AI subscriptions.
Sources
- @cursor_ai - Cursor is now part of The X Subscription, with a shared usage pool across Cursor and Grok
- Cursor help - The X Subscription overview, including third-party API billing and switching rules
- The New Stack - the tier prices and why Claude now costs extra
Further Reading
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