# Cursor for New Zealand businesses. URL: https://levystreet.com/tools/cursor/ Updated: 2026-10-19 Cursor AI for New Zealand teams after the SpaceX deal: the new USD plans, Privacy Mode and data use, buying it from NZ, and a starter project to try. ## Short answer Cursor is an AI code editor whose agent edits and tests code across a repository. SpaceX completed its acquisition on 14 August 2026, and plans now run from Free to Ultra at US$200 a month, excluding tax, bundled with Grok and X features. For New Zealand teams the key checks are Privacy Mode, extra charges for OpenAI or Anthropic models, and direct-only USD billing. - SpaceX completed its acquisition of Cursor on 14 August 2026. - Plans are priced in USD excluding tax: Free, Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100, Ultra $200. - OpenAI and Anthropic models are billed at API list price outside every plan's allowance. - With Privacy Mode off, Cursor may store and train on code, prompts and editor actions. - Sold only directly through X Subscription Corp; no NZ resellers are authorised. ## What Cursor is now, and what it is good at Cursor is a code editor with an AI agent built in: you describe a change, and the agent reads the repository, edits several files and runs commands while you watch the diff. In 2026 it also changed hands. [SpaceX completed its acquisition](https://cursor.com/blog/joining-spacex) on 14 August 2026, subscriptions are now sold by X Subscription Corp, and every plan bundles Grok and X (Twitter) subscription features alongside the editor. The product itself remains strong for teams that write code every day: - **Editor-first work.** Developers stay in one window while the agent edits across files, which suits frequent small changes better than handing off whole tasks. - **Shared project rules.** Rules live in the repository, so a team's conventions travel with the code. - **Team controls on paid business plans.** Teams adds centralised billing, usage analytics, team-wide privacy settings and SAML/OIDC SSO; Enterprise adds SCIM, audit logs and repository, model and MCP access controls. - **Ecosystem support.** Shopify's AI Toolkit ships plugins and agent skills for Cursor plus a local Dev MCP server, useful for NZ retailers building on [Shopify](/integrations/shopify/). Cursor's security page lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 42001:2023 and AIUC-1. Where it is weaker for New Zealand buyers: unpredictable bills once you use OpenAI or Anthropic models, card-only USD billing below Enterprise, social-media features nobody in your business asked for, and a vendor whose terms have just changed. ## Cursor plans and prices | Plan | Price (USD/month) | Usage | Models | Business features | |---|---|---|---|---| | Free | $0 | Limited | Limited agent and Chat requests | None | | Plus | $8 | Basic shared pool | Grok models only | None | | Premium | $30 | 4x Plus | Grok included; third-party at API list price | Cloud agents, Bugbot code reviews | | Super | $100 | 15x Plus | As Premium | Priority model access at peak times | | Ultra | $200 | 50x Plus | As Premium | Earliest access to new products | | Teams | $30+ per user | 4 to 50x Plus, by seat | As Premium | SSO, team-wide privacy, analytics, mixed seats | | Enterprise | Custom | Pooled | As Premium | Invoice/PO billing, SCIM, audit logs, access controls | *Cursor plans as listed on 19 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars and, in Cursor's words, "exclusive of any applicable taxes". The page does not mention New Zealand GST, so check how tax appears on your first invoice.* Each tier includes a usage pool, shared between Cursor and Grok, that refreshes weekly; top-offs are available when it runs out. Third-party models are never in the pool. Cursor bills them separately at API list price, with optional spending caps. Illustrative arithmetic: six developers on Teams at the US$30 entry seat cost US$180 a month before tax. If each also uses 3 million input and 300,000 output tokens a month of Claude Sonnet 5.5, and Cursor passes through Anthropic's list price of US$2 and US$10 per million tokens, that adds US$9 per developer, or US$54. Total: about US$234 a month, plus tax and currency conversion on the card. ## How Cursor handles your code Cursor's [data use page](https://cursor.com/data-use), updated 3 September 2026, sets out two states: - **Privacy Mode on.** Cursor does not use your data for training, and it holds zero data retention agreements with its model providers. Prompts that trip abuse classifiers may still be stored for investigation. Models without zero retention are labelled or need an admin to opt in. - **Privacy Mode off.** Cursor may store and use codebase data, prompts, editor actions and code snippets to improve its features and train its models. Two further details matter. Requests go through Cursor's backend even when you supply your own API key, because that is where prompts are assembled. File contents are cached temporarily, encrypted with client-generated keys. The pages we checked do not say which country processes your requests; Cursor publishes its subprocessor list on its trust portal. For the [Privacy Act 2020](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/31/en/latest/): with Privacy Mode off, Cursor uses what it receives for its own purposes, so any personal information in your code (test fixtures, logs, customer exports) is being disclosed to an overseas provider, and IPPs 11 and 12 apply. With Privacy Mode on, Cursor is closer to a provider processing on your behalf under section 11, which is not a disclosure, but your organisation stays responsible for security under IPP 5. Cursor describes Privacy Mode as a setting you enable, either per user or by a team admin, and new team members inherit the team setting. On Teams or Enterprise, switch it on for the whole team rather than trusting each developer to do it. ## Buying Cursor from New Zealand Cursor's pricing FAQ is blunt: subscriptions are sold only directly through X Subscription Corp, and no resellers are authorised. Your managed service provider cannot bundle it. Self-serve plans are paid by card in US dollars; invoices, purchase orders and wire transfers need Enterprise. Before you commit, ask the questions in our [AI procurement questions](/resources/ai-procurement-questions/): where requests are processed, which subprocessors see code, how the ownership change affects existing privacy commitments, and how much notice you get of plan changes. Then set an exit plan. Cursor reads `AGENTS.md` files as well as its own rules, and so does Claude Code, so keeping instructions in `AGENTS.md` makes a later switch cheaper. Track who holds which seat; our lesson on [managing AI subscriptions and access](/learn/managing-ai-subscriptions-and-access/) covers offboarding. ## A starter project your team can run this week *Illustrative example:* a five-developer Wellington team maintains an internal quoting service with thin test coverage. The goal is better tests without touching production code. 1. **Choose the plan.** For two or more developers, Teams gives you team-wide privacy settings and SSO. A single developer can trial Premium. 2. **Turn on Privacy Mode for the team** in the admin settings, then confirm on one developer's machine that the setting was inherited. 3. **Cap third-party spend.** Set a spending cap before anyone selects an OpenAI or Anthropic model, and decide which models are approved. 4. **Add project rules.** Create `.cursor/rules/house-rules.mdc` (rules must use the `.mdc` extension) with the content below and commit it. 5. **Ask for tests, not changes.** Give the agent the prompt below. It should touch only test files. 6. **Prove the tests work.** Break the function deliberately and confirm the new tests fail. Tests that still pass against broken code are worthless. Our guide to [evaluating AI-generated code](/learn/evaluating-ai-generated-code/) has more checks. 7. **Review usage.** After a week, compare the usage figures in the admin dashboard, and any third-party model charges, against the number of tests merged. ```markdown --- description: House rules for the quoting service alwaysApply: true --- Use New Zealand English in comments, messages and documentation. Store money as integer cents. GST is 15% unless a line is zero-rated. Show dates to users as DD/MM/YYYY. Never read or print values from .env files. Ask before adding any dependency. ``` ```text Write unit tests for calculate_quote_total() in quotes/pricing.py. Cover GST at 15%, zero-rated lines, a discount applied before GST, rounding to the nearest cent, and an empty quote. Do not change pricing.py. Run the tests and report which fail and why. ``` ## Cursor versus Claude Code - **Choose Cursor** if your developers want an AI-first editor with team administration in one subscription, and you are comfortable with direct USD card billing and the new owner's terms. - **Choose [Claude Code](/tools/claude-code/)** if you prefer an agent that takes whole tasks from the terminal beside any editor (including Cursor), with Anthropic's models included in the plan rather than metered at API list price. - **Choose neither yet** if nobody on staff can review code. Compare [an AI agency with an internal hire](/compare/ai-agency-vs-internal-hire/) first; if you do have developers, our [AI training](/services/ai-training/) covers reviewing agent output. ## Where Cursor goes wrong - **Bill surprises.** OpenAI and Anthropic usage sits outside every allowance. Without caps, a week of heavy agent work can cost more than the seats. - **The wrong plan.** Plus includes Grok models only. Staff who expect Claude or GPT models on an $8 plan will hit a wall. - **One developer without Privacy Mode.** That is enough for code, and any customer data in it, to become training data. - **Large unreviewed diffs.** Ask for small, scoped changes and read every one before merging. - **Plan churn.** The 2025 line-up of Hobby, Pro at $20 and Pro+ has gone. Expect further change, and keep rules in files you can take with you. ## Questions people ask ### Who owns Cursor now? SpaceX. Cursor, made by Anysphere, announced on 14 August 2026 that SpaceX had completed its acquisition, following a partnership with SpaceXAI announced in April 2026. Subscriptions are now sold by X Subscription Corp, and the plans bundle Grok (xAI) and X subscription features with the code editor. For a business buyer, that means new contract terms and a new counterparty to assess. ### How much does Cursor cost in New Zealand? Cursor lists prices in US dollars, excluding applicable taxes. As listed on 19 October 2026: Free $0, Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100 and Ultra $200 a month, Teams from $30 per user per month, and Enterprise on a custom quote. Using OpenAI or Anthropic models costs extra at API list price, so budget for seats plus model usage. ### Does Cursor train on our code? It depends on Privacy Mode. With Privacy Mode on, Cursor says your data is not used for training and its model providers work under zero data retention agreements, although flagged abuse can still be stored for investigation. With it off, Cursor may store and use codebase data, prompts and editor actions to train its models. Team admins can enforce Privacy Mode for everyone. ### Can we buy Cursor through our New Zealand IT provider? No. Cursor's pricing FAQ says subscriptions are sold only directly through X Subscription Corp and that it does not authorise resellers, warning that accounts bought elsewhere may be suspended. Self-serve plans are paid by credit or debit card. Invoice billing, purchase orders and wire transfers require the Enterprise plan, which is quoted by Cursor's sales team. ### Can Cursor use Claude or GPT models? Yes, on Premium and above, but not from your plan's included usage. Cursor says third-party models such as OpenAI's and Anthropic's are billed separately at API list price, with optional spending caps. The Plus plan includes Grok models only. Requests still pass through Cursor's backend even if you supply your own API key. ## Sources - [Cursor pricing](https://cursor.com/pricing) - [Cursor joins SpaceX](https://cursor.com/blog/joining-spacex) - [Data Use & Privacy Overview](https://cursor.com/data-use) - [Security](https://cursor.com/security) - [Rules](https://cursor.com/docs/context/rules) - [How Claude remembers your project](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory) - [Claude API pricing](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing) - [Shopify Dev MCP server](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/devmcp) - [Privacy Act 2020](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/31/en/latest/) - [Working with third-party providers](https://www.privacy.org.nz/resources-and-learning/a-z-topics/working-with-third-party-providers/) Published by Levy Street (https://levystreet.com), Wellington, New Zealand.