Does Cursor have Offline Mode?

Developers working in high-security environments or unstable network conditions often ask: Cursor offline mode does it exist? The short answer is no. While Cursor is a powerful fork of VS Code, its core intelligence relies on cloud-based indexing and proprietary proxy servers. If you require a sovereign environment where no code leaves your machine, you need a different architecture.

TL;DR: AZMX wins when you need total data sovereignty, BYOK flexibility, and a tiny native footprint; Cursor wins when you want a seamless, managed "it just works" cloud-synced experience.

Feature	Cursor	AZMX AI
Pricing	Subscription (Free/Pro/Business)	Free / Pro ($20mo) / Teams ($40seat)
Privacy / Data Handling	Cloud-first (Privacy mode available)	Local-first, No telemetry, No account
BYOK Support	Limited	Full (OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, etc.)
Offline Mode	No	Yes (via Ollama / LM Studio)
MCP Support	Limited / Emerging	Full (stdio and HTTP)
Approval Gates	Partial	Mandatory for every shell/edit op
Sub-agents	No	Yes
Architecture	Electron / VS Code Fork	Native Tauri + Rust (~7MB)
Platform Availability	macOS, Windows, Linux	macOS, Windows, Linux

Where Cursor is actually better

• Onboarding Speed: Because Cursor manages the models and the indexing for you, the time from download to first successful completion is shorter than configuring a local LLM.
• Deep VS Code Integration: As a fork, it inherits every single VS Code extension and theme perfectly without compatibility layers.
• Managed Indexing: Their cloud-side codebase indexing is highly optimized and requires zero manual configuration from the user.

Where AZMX wins

• True Offline Sovereignty: By connecting to Ollama or LM Studio, AZMX AI operates with zero network calls. Your code never leaves your RAM.
• Resource Efficiency: AZMX is a ~7 MB native binary built with Rust and Tauri. It does not suffer from the memory overhead typical of Electron-based editors like Cursor or VS Code.
• Strict Security Defaults: AZMX includes a built-in deny-list that refuses to read .env, .ssh, or credential files by default. Most agents, including Cursor's, may index these if not explicitly ignored.
• Model Agnosticism: Use any provider via BYOK. Switch from Claude 3.5 Sonnet to a local DeepSeek-Coder instance in two clicks without changing your billing plan.
• Agentic Control: Every shell command and file edit is gated by an approval prompt. You are the supervisor, not a passenger.

How to switch from Cursor

Migrating from a managed cloud editor to a sovereign agent platform is straightforward since AZMX focuses on your existing local files rather than a proprietary cloud project format.

1. Install AZMX: Download the native binary from /download.
2. Set up your Backend: For offline use, install Ollama. For cloud use, add your API keys for Anthropic or OpenAI in the settings.
3. Initialize Project Memory: Create an AZMX.md file in your project root. Use this to define project rules, architectural constraints, and context that the agent should remember across sessions.
4. Configure MCP Servers: If you use external tools, add your MCP servers via stdio or HTTP to give your agent access to your specific databases or APIs.
5. Import Ignore Rules: Copy your .gitignore patterns to the AZMX deny-list to ensure sensitive credentials remain untouched.

Pricing breakdown

Cursor typically operates on a subscription model where you pay for the access to their managed models. AZMX AI separates the tool from the intelligence.

• Cursor Pro: $20/month per user. For a team of 10, that is $2,400/year, regardless of whether you use their models or your own.
• AZMX AI: Free to download. For power users, Pro is $20/mo and Teams is $40/seat/mo. However, because of BYOK, you only pay the raw token cost to the provider (e.g., Groq or DeepSeek), which is often 80-90% cheaper than a flat subscription for moderate usage.
• Fully Offline: $0/mo. Run AZMX AI + Ollama on your own hardware for zero recurring costs.

If you are tired of the "cloud-only" constraint and want a tool that respects your privacy and hardware, AZMX AI is the logical step. It is free, supports BYOK, and requires no account to start. Visit /download to get started.