Is Cursor Free for Students in 2026? What You Can Still Get
New sign-ups for Cursor's free student Pro year closed on June 25, 2026. The Hobby plan is still free for everyone, and undergraduates can claim credits at events.
As of November 2026, Cursor's own student discount help page says new sign-ups for the free student Pro year closed on June 25, 2026. Plenty of older blog posts and videos still tell you to claim it. What can a student in India or the US get today?
No, the free Pro year for students is closed to new sign-ups, but Cursor itself is still free. The Hobby plan costs $0 and needs no card. Undergraduates can also claim credits at campus and online events listed on the Cursor Students page. Master's students and PhD candidates, plus researchers and educators, can fill in a request form.
Start on the free Hobby plan
Hobby costs $0, needs no credit card, and is open to anyone, including students in India and the US, with no student verification (Cursor pricing).
Cursor's Students page puts it simply: "Anyone can get started with Cursor for free." If you searched "is Cursor free for students in India", this is your answer. Yes, really. A student in Pune and a student in Ohio sign up the same way.
The pricing page describes Hobby as "limited AI usage". In practice, that means limited Agent requests and limited Tab completions, as NxCode's breakdown explains. Agent is the mode where Cursor plans a change and edits several files for you. Tab is the autocomplete that suggests your next lines as you type. If you want to see where the agent is going, read my post on Cursor's iOS app and coding agent.
Download Cursor
Get the installer for your operating system from cursor.com.
Sign in
Create an account with any email. Skip any upgrade prompt.
Open a project
Use a folder you already have, like a college assignment or a small website.
Try Agent and Tab
Ask Agent to explain one file. Then type a function and watch what Tab suggests.
Watch your usage
Check the usage section of your account settings after each session.
Know the Hobby limits before you rely on it
Cursor no longer publishes a fixed Hobby quota, so the old "2,000 completions and 50 premium requests" figures in older articles are not on the current official page, as NxCode points out.
Older articles disagree because the limits changed over time. You can spot an outdated one quickly. It quotes exact Hobby numbers as if they are official. It tells you to verify as a student. It has no date, or a date before mid-2026.
For a beginner, what matters is the shape of your week. A small to-do app or a few assignment fixes needs a handful of Agent requests. Building a full project every day with Agent doing most of the work uses up a limited plan much faster, so you will reach the limit sooner.
Pros
- No payment and no card on file.
- Same editor as the paid plans, so your skills carry over.
- May be enough for small projects and coursework, but Cursor does not promise a number, so test it.
Cons
- No exact quota is promised, so you cannot plan around a number.
- Heavy daily Agent use can hit the limit mid-task.
Since Cursor promises no exact number, the only honest test is your own workload. Use Hobby on real work and see where it stops you. As of November 5, 2026, we could not confirm the Hobby request quota, the dates of any campus or online events, or the credit amount for events and the request form. The one page to recheck is cursor.com/students, because that is where Cursor lists new event promotions.
Claim credits at campus and online events (undergraduates)
Undergraduates can claim credits and discounts at on-campus and online events that Cursor is running from fall 2026, according to the Cursor Students page.
The page does not list a fixed schedule or a fixed credit amount. Check it before you plan a semester around free credits. Your college may never host an event, and online ones may fill up.
Here is what to do this week:
- Open the Students page and read the current event promotions.
- Follow Cursor's event announcements so you see new dates when they appear.
- Ask your college coding club or tech fest team if they plan to invite Cursor. In the US, your CS department's student chapter is a good place to ask.
- Join an online event if no campus event reaches you.
Request credits through the form (postgraduates, researchers, educators)
Master's students, PhD candidates, academic researchers and educators can request credits through a request form linked from the Students page instead of waiting for an event.
Prepare two things before you open the form. First, your university email address, because it shows you belong to an institution. Second, a short description of what you will build or study with Cursor. Be specific: "a thesis tool that cleans sensor data" reads better than "research work".
Approval is not guaranteed. The page describes it as a request, not an automatic grant.
Teachers and lab leads can use the educator route for a whole class. One request from the instructor is cleaner than thirty students each trying their luck.
If you already hold the old student deal
If you redeemed the student discount before June 25, 2026, you keep your rate until the plan expires, then it renews at $20/month on a legacy Pro plan. Note the end date in your Cursor billing settings and set a reminder a few days before it. Cursor closed the program because it "had become a target for fraud and held Cursor back from reaching students globally," says the help page.
Compare the three ways to use Cursor in late 2026
The three routes differ in who can use them, what they cost and whether you can still get in today.
| Legacy student Pro deal | Free Hobby plan | Event and researcher paths | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Students who redeemed it before June 25, 2026 | Anyone (pricing) | Undergraduates via events; master's and PhD students, plus researchers and educators, via form (Students page) |
| Cost | Your current rate until expiry, then $20/month | $0, no card | Credits or discounts, amount not published |
| Can you start now? | Closed | Yes | Form: yes. Events: only when one runs |
| Main catch | Renews at full price | No fixed published quota (NxCode) | Approval and timing are not guaranteed |
Who should pick what: everyone starts on Hobby. Undergraduates add events on top when one appears. Postgraduates and teachers send the form in their first week. Existing deal holders mark their expiry date and decide before it arrives.
Avoid these mistakes when looking for free Cursor access
Most wasted time comes from trusting old posts, paying a third-party "student key" seller, or upgrading before testing Hobby. Four mistakes come up again and again:
- Following a 2025 tutorial. If it says to verify as a student for a free year, it is out of date. Close the tab.
- Buying keys or accounts from resellers. You pay a stranger, the account can be shut down, and you have no support.
- Using a fake student email. This is the exact fraud problem that closed the deal, per the help page. It can cost you your account.
- Upgrading before testing Hobby. Many beginners pay for a plan they never use fully. I apply the same rule to hosting in my free web hosting comparison: test the free tier first.
Is Cursor still worth paying $20 a month for as a student?
Pay only after Hobby limits actually block your work, because the free plan may be enough for small learning projects, though Cursor does not publish a quota. That $20 figure is the legacy Pro rate on the help page; check the pricing page for current plans.
Use one simple rule. Work on Hobby for two weeks. Each time a limit stops you, write down the date and the task. If you hit it once or twice, stay free. If it stops real coursework every few days, paying may make sense.
Cursor is also not the only option. Free editors and chat assistants exist, and for explanations alone a chat tool may be enough. My Mistral Large 4 vs ChatGPT comparison for students shows how to judge one.
Download Cursor today, sign in on the free Hobby plan, and build one small project this week. Then open cursor.com/students to check for a campus event or the researcher form that matches your degree. Before you pay anything, note the first time Hobby limits stop you.
