AI coding startup Cursor introduced a India-specific subscription plan in July 2026, pricing it at ₹649 per month (about $7) — well below its standard $20-per-month Pro tier — as the company moves to expand in one of the world’s largest developer markets weeks before its expected acquisition by SpaceX closes.
The new plan, called Cursor Start, includes access to Cursor’s Composer 2.5 model and Grok 4.5, higher usage limits than the free tier, cloud agents, an iOS app, plugins, Model Context Protocol support, hooks, and skills. It does not include frontier AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic, or advanced features such as Bugbot, Auto Mode, Automations, and the Cursor SDK. The plan is billed in Indian rupees and supports credit and debit cards as well as India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Cursor says India is already its third-largest market globally, with its user base in the country more than tripling over the past year. Simon Green, Cursor’s head of Asia-Pacific and Japan, told TechCrunch the lower price is commercially sustainable because the plan is built around Cursor’s own AI models, which carry lower operating costs than third-party frontier models. Cursor said it will use multiple checks, including measures to deter VPN access, to ensure the plan remains available only to individual users in India.
India’s developer base was a key factor in the decision. GitHub reported earlier in 2026 that the country has more than 27 million developers on its platform, second only to the United States, with over two million joining in 2026 alone.
Alongside the pricing move, Cursor is expanding its on-the-ground presence, hiring its first salesperson in India and adding staff in Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, including a government affairs office and three technical support roles.
The India expansion comes roughly a month after SpaceX agreed to acquire Cursor in a $60 billion all-stock deal, following SpaceX’s initial public offering. The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2026. Green said the India plans were already underway before the deal and that SpaceX’s existing Starlink presence in India could help lower commercial and operational barriers once the transaction closes. Green also said localized pricing could expand to other markets if the India model proves successful.
Source: TechCrunch