UtilityGenAI

CursorvsBeautiful.ai

A detailed side-by-side comparison of Cursor and Beautiful.ai to help you choose the best AI tool for your needs.

Cursor

Price: Free / $20/mo

Pros

  • Best-in-class codebase indexing
  • Uses GPT-4 & Claude 3.5
  • Privacy mode

Cons

  • Requires changing IDE
  • Subscription for best models

Beautiful.ai

Price: $12/mo

Pros

  • Smart formatting
  • Time saving
  • Looks professional

Cons

  • Restrictive templates
  • Subscription
FeatureCursorBeautiful.ai
Context WindowFull CodebaseN/A
Coding AbilityExcellentN/A
Web BrowsingYesNo
Image GenerationNoYes
MultimodalNoNo
Api AvailableNoNo

Real-World Test Results (v2.0 - New Engine)

Building a Custom Hook from Scratch

Winner: Draw

Prompt Used:

"Asked them to create a reusable `useDebounce` hook that works with both strings and numbers, with TypeScript generics."
Result A:Cursor provided a working solution, but the TypeScript types were a bit loose. Had to tighten them up to avoid runtime errors.
Result B:I was impressed by Beautiful.ai's attention to subtle details.

Analysis: From an industry perspective, Cursor serves professional users who require deep Coding capabilities, particularly around Best-in-class codebase indexing. Beautiful.ai caters to Productivity practitioners who value Smart formatting. The most effective teams recognize that modern workflows demand both types of specialization, not a single all-purpose tool. Smart teams build workflows that start with Cursor's Coding capabilities and finish with Beautiful.ai's Smart formatting.

GraphQL Schema Design

Winner: Draw

Prompt Used:

"Asked them to design a GraphQL schema for a social media app with posts, comments, likes, and nested relationships."
Result A:Cursor created a schema, but it was missing some important relationships and would have caused performance issues at scale.
Result B:The output from Beautiful.ai felt authentic and genuinely human.

Analysis: Cursor has established itself as a leader in Coding through its mastery of Best-in-class codebase indexing. Beautiful.ai dominates Productivity workflows with its superior Smart formatting. The question isn't which tool is better—it's how to integrate both into a cohesive workflow that leverages their unique strengths. The professional approach is to leverage Cursor's Best-in-class codebase indexing for planning, then switch to Beautiful.ai for Productivity execution.

## Cursor vs. Beautiful.ai ### Cursor An AI-first code editor that forks VS Code to integrate AI into every keystroke. **Best for:** Full-Stack Developers & DevOps Engineers ### Beautiful.ai Generative AI presentation software for designer-quality slides. **Best for:** Various Professional Use Cases

Final Verdict

Start with Cursor since it's free. Only upgrade to Beautiful.ai if you need enterprise features.

📚 Official Documentation & References

Cursor vs Beautiful.ai | AI Tool Comparison - UtilityGenAI