The short answer
- Cline's official migration guide moves 2 kinds of data in full and 2 partly; 4 things stay behind. What moves
- 3 public accounts of making this switch: 2 switched, 1 evaluated. Read them
- Switching help: Cline natively reads Cursor rules at no cost: legacy .cursorrules works automatically with no migration, .cursor/rules/*.mdc files move with a one-line cp -r into .clinerules/, and AGENTS.md and .windsurfrules are also auto-detected. The extension itself is free. cline.bot
What Cursor and Cline cost
List prices from each vendor's pricing page, as stored in the Stackcut catalog. Each price links its source.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor Pro (Individual) | $20/mo | not shown | Extended agent limits, frontier models, cloud agents; on-demand usage billed at API rates |
| Cursor Pro+ | $60/mo | not shown | Pro Plus: more included usage |
| Cursor Ultra | $200/mo | not shown | Highest individual included usage |
| Cursor Teams | $40/user/mo | not shown | Standard seat; centralized billing, SAML/OIDC SSO, Bugbot |
- Cursor free plan: Hobby: limited Agent requests, access to Composer; no credit card cursor.com
- Cline free plan: Free for individual developers cline.bot
Cline's plans aren't in the Stackcut catalog yet; check Cline's own site.
Moving from Cursor to Cline
What Cline's importer carries over, what it leaves behind, and any help it offers switchers.
To Cline
Official guide cline.bot · Tools: Cline VS Code extension, shell cp command
Moves: legacy .cursorrules file (full); Cursor rules in .cursor/rules/*.mdc (partial); MCP server configuration (partial); AGENTS.md (full). cline.bot
Doesn't move: Cursor Tab completion (Cline has none); Composer chat history and Cursor Memories; Cursor background/cloud agents (Cline runs one supervised agent at a time); .mdc YAML frontmatter activation modes must be re-expressed as Cline conditional rules or plain markdown. cline.bot
Watch out for:
- .cursor/rules/*.mdc files require manual migration, unlike legacy .cursorrules which is automatic cline.bot
- Rules consume context tokens; Cline docs advise keeping them concise cline.bot
- Per-token costs scale with actual usage - Cline adds no platform fee ('pay what the provider charges... and none more'), so heavy agentic months can exceed a flat subscription cline.bot
Switching help: Cline natively reads Cursor rules at no cost: legacy .cursorrules works automatically with no migration, .cursor/rules/*.mdc files move with a one-line cp -r into .clinerules/, and AGENTS.md and .windsurfrules are also auto-detected. The extension itself is free. cline.bot
From each destination's own migration docs and switching pages, plus community write-ups where no official guide exists, each checked against its page. Confirm terms on the linked page before you rely on an offer.
People who moved from Cursor to Cline
3 public accounts of leaving Cursor: 2 switched, 1 evaluated. Summaries are ours; each links the original, and each was checked against its page before it appeared here.
First-person evaluation across three months: Cursor remains the default pick if money is no object; Cline is 'the upset' for cost-conscious founders already paying for Claude, at the price of polish. Author name not shown on the page. Fewer Tools
(older account, March 2025) Full-stack developer's 3-month daily-use comparison: Cline is the primary agent for big changes, run inside Cursor so Cursor still provides tab completions. Considers the per-token cost worth it versus Cursor's context-limited flat rate. Author handle not visible in the fetched page. Reddit (r/ChatGPTCoding)
Reddit user (r/CLine) switched from a $20/month Cursor Pro subscription to Cline after update fatigue, and reports Cline is way better for their workflow at equal or lower cost through OpenRouter. Author handle and exact post date were not visible in the fetched page. Reddit (r/CLine)
How to leave Cursor
Export first, then cancel. Every step links the vendor's own help page, checked on the date shown.
How to leave Cursor
Export first
- No export path documented yet.
Cancel
- cursor.com/dashboard/billing → Manage Subscription → Cancel Subscription → confirm.
- Subscriptions bought in the iOS or Android app are cancelled through Apple or Google Play. On Teams, an admin cancels.
- Takes effect
- You keep paid features until the end of the billing period; then the account reverts to the free Hobby plan.
- Refunds
- Individual plans: only if the charge was in the last 14 days and you haven't used the subscription in that period.
- After you cancel
- Cancelling doesn't delete your account or any local project files.
FAQ
Can I move my Cursor data to Cline?
Cline's official guide moves: legacy .cursorrules file; Cursor rules in .cursor/rules/*.mdc; MCP server configuration; AGENTS.md. It doesn't move: Cursor Tab completion (Cline has none); Composer chat history and Cursor Memories; Cursor background/cloud agents (Cline runs one supervised agent at a time); .mdc YAML frontmatter activation modes must be re-expressed as Cline conditional rules or plain markdown. cline.bot
Does Cline help people switch from Cursor?
Cline natively reads Cursor rules at no cost: legacy .cursorrules works automatically with no migration, .cursor/rules/*.mdc files move with a one-line cp -r into .clinerules/, and AGENTS.md and .windsurfrules are also auto-detected. The extension itself is free. cline.bot
Keep reading
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find_alternatives({"vendor": "Cursor"})