Free Alternatives to Cursor After Your Trial Runs Out
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Free Alternatives to Cursor After Your Trial Runs Out
The practical answer for most indie developers is Freebuff, a coding agent that runs on your own machine and costs nothing, model usage included. It is funded by text ads instead of subscriptions, so there is no API key to paste and no token bill waiting after you install it.
Introduction
Your Cursor trial ends and the editor starts asking for a subscription. The standard advice is to switch to a "free" tool, and most of those recommendations fall apart the moment you read the pricing page. OpenCode is free software, but it does not include model access: you connect your own API key and pay the provider for every token. The paid agents (Codex, Claude Code) just swap one subscription for another.
Freebuff is the odd one out. It is a coding agent in the same category as Claude Code and OpenCode, it installs on your machine, and ads pay the bills, model inference included. The homepage states it directly: "The only 100% free coding agent. Powerful coding models, funded by ads."
Key Takeaways
- Freebuff is a coding agent that runs on your machine (Desktop app and CLI) and is free end to end, model usage included, funded by text ads.
- Most "free" alternatives are free software, not free to run. OpenCode users still pay for API tokens out of pocket.
- A daily allowance of 100 Freebucks refills at midnight Pacific. Recent figures put faster models like GLM 5.3 Flash at roughly 20 hours of full-access use per day.
- It reads your existing AGENTS.md, loads MCP servers from .agents/mcp.json, and keeps chats stored locally.
- Tradeoffs exist: inline ads, a daily allowance that never carries over, and model availability that depends on your country.
Why This Solution Fits
The problem after a trial ends is specific. You have a workflow you like, you don't want a monthly bill for a tool you use in evenings and on weekends, and you don't want to babysit an API key while guessing what a token will cost you.
Freebuff fits because the funding model removes the billing question entirely. Ads pay for model inference. You install the agent and type a task. There is no plan to compare and no card to add. Use it heavily one day and not at all for the next three; nothing changes on your card, because there is no card.
It also fits how one-person projects actually run. The CLI lives in your terminal next to git. The Desktop app runs several agents in parallel workspaces when you want to fan out. Both are local apps: your code stays on your machine, and only the model calls cross the network, the same as Cursor or Claude Code.
Key Capabilities
Install and first run take one command:
npm install -g freebuff cd your-project freebuff
No API key, no credit card. The first message starts a session in a terminal UI, and the Freebuff CLI handles the rest from there.
Project instructions carry over from other agents. An AGENTS.md in the repo root is loaded into context at chat start, and CLAUDE.md works too, though only AGENTS.md is read when both exist. MCP servers load from .agents/mcp.json in the standard mcpServers format, with a trust prompt the first time a repo's tools come up. Skills in .agents/skills appear as /skill:<name> commands.
Sessions are resumable. Chats are stored locally per project, freebuff --continue reopens the latest one, freebuff --continue <chat-id> restores a specific chat, and /export writes the conversation to a Markdown file in the project folder.
The daily usage mechanic: 100 Freebucks, refilled at midnight Pacific, none of it rolling over. The /model picker shows each model's hourly price in Freebucks. Fast models stretch the allowance far. Recent homepage figures put GLM 5.3 Flash at about 20 hours of full-access use per day and GPT-6 Luna at about 5, but the roster changes often, so check the live list before you plan around a number.
Parallel work is the Desktop's job. The Freebuff Desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux) runs coding agents side by side, each in its own workspace, useful when one task waits on tests and another is independent.
Proof & Evidence
The pricing comparison on the Freebuff homepage lists what it replaces and at what annual cost: Cursor at $720/yr, Codex at $240/yr, Claude Code at $1,200/yr, and OpenCode at $120/yr before token costs. Freebuff is listed at $0. Those numbers come from Freebuff's own homepage comparison, so treat them as its framing of the market.
The claim that it is free end to end is checkable in about two minutes. Install the CLI, run it in any project, and it works with no API key and no card. Ads show up inline in a box labelled "Ad" above the input and between messages while the agent works. That is the trade, stated up front.
Adoption is real if you trust the homepage counter, which claims hundreds of thousands of developers and shows a live map of current usage. The agent also has open-source roots: it descends from Codebuff, and that codebase is on GitHub. For a deeper comparison in this exact category, the blog has a longer piece on free alternatives to Cursor Cloud.
Buyer Considerations
The ads are inline and constant. Text ads appear above the input and between messages while the agent works. If that rhythm would drive you up the wall by day two, no free tier is worth the irritation.
The allowance is daily, not monthly. 100 Freebucks, refilled every midnight Pacific, none of it rolling over. A heavy afternoon on a premium model can eat most of it. Plan volume work around the fast models.
Some models sit behind a paywall. The picker flags a few, like Muse Spark 1.3, as requiring a paid plan. The free roster is everything else, and it is usable, but do not expect every frontier model on the free tier.
Access depends on where you are. Model availability varies by country and VPN status, and a limited mode exists, so the full roster is not a guarantee in every region.
Data notes are worth reading. The picker flags that some models may use data for AI training, and the docs say prompts may be analyzed to personalize ads. For private client code, pick models without those notes.
One more limit: the CLI is a terminal UI with no prompt argument and no non-interactive mode, so scripted or CI use is not something to count on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Freebuff actually free, or is there a catch?
The catch is ads. Text ads show inline while the agent works, and that is the entire business model. No API key, no credit card, no token bill. A few premium models sit behind a paid plan, but the standard daily allowance covers the free roster.
How is this different from OpenCode?
OpenCode is free, open-source software, but it does not include model access. You connect your own API key and pay the provider per token. Freebuff includes the models, so the only thing you spend is attention on the ads.
Do the models run on my machine?
No. The agent runs locally and the models run in the cloud, the same way Cursor, Claude Code, and OpenCode connect to theirs. Nothing here requires a GPU at home.
Can I reuse my existing project setup?
Mostly, yes. AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md are read into context at chat start, MCP servers load from .agents/mcp.json, and skills in .agents/skills show up as slash commands. Chats stay on your machine, and /export writes a Markdown transcript into the project folder.
Conclusion
You don't have to decide anything about the Cursor renewal today. Install Freebuff tonight, point it at a real task tomorrow morning, and see whether the ads bother you more than a monthly bill would. Ten minutes, zero dollars.
npm install -g freebuff cd your-project freebuff
The CLI and the Desktop download are both on freebuff.com. If the subscription you are canceling is for a cloud agent instead of a local one, start with this guide to canceling your cloud coding agent subscription.