TOOLS · Kika

Why I Pay for Cursor Pro — and the Exact Workflows That Justify It

I don't pay for software easily. My stack is aggressively local-first. So when I tell you I happily pay $20/month for Cursor Pro, understand that this is a calculated decision.

I don't pay for software easily.

My stack is aggressively local-first. I run Ollama on my M4 Max. I self-host dashboards. I removed MongoDB backends and replaced them with JSON files. I build my own tools when the existing ones get bloated.

So when I tell you I happily pay $20/month for Cursor Pro, understand that this is not a default decision. It's a calculated one. Cursor is the only AI tool in my entire stack that I pay for monthly — and it's not even close.

What Cursor Actually Does Differently

Every AI code editor promises the same thing: "write code faster." That's not why I use Cursor.

I use Cursor because it's the only tool that treats my entire codebase as context — not just the open file, not just the last 10 lines. Cursor sees the dependencies, the types, the patterns, the architecture decisions I made three weeks ago and forgot about.

Here's what that means in practice:

Other editors give you a chatbot in a sidebar. Cursor gives you an agent that lives inside your code.

My Real Cursor Workflows

I don't use Cursor for everything. I use it for specific, high-leverage moments. Here's what my actual usage looks like:

1. Project Scaffolding & Architecture

When I start a new macOS app or Tauri project, I don't write boilerplate. I describe the architecture in natural language, and Cursor generates:

Last week I built a landing page for KikaColorBar. Cursor generated the full Vite + React scaffold, wired the Tauri config, and handled the dev server setup. What would have been 45 minutes of boilerplate was done in 3.

2. Debugging With Context

The worst debugging isn't hard bugs. It's bugs you already solved in another file.

I hit a Tauri build error last month: beforeDevCommand called corepack pnpm dev, but corepack was not found on PATH. Cursor didn't just tell me "check your PATH." It:

  1. Read my tauri.conf.json
  2. Saw I was using pnpm not npm
  3. Suggested changing beforeDevCommand to pnpm dev
  4. Generated the exact diff

One prompt. No Stack Overflow. No context switching.

3. Refactoring Across Files

I recently removed all Claude integration from Lapapi. This meant:

Cursor handled the cross-file refactoring in a single Composer session. It found every reference, suggested the deletions, and verified nothing broke. I reviewed each change. Total time: 12 minutes. Manual time: probably an hour and a missed reference.

4. Agent Memory & Continual Learning

This is where it gets meta.

I have a continual-learning skill that scans my Cursor agent transcripts and extracts reusable patterns. Cursor helps me:

It's not just coding. It's codifying my own workflow so my agents get smarter over time.

What I Don't Use Cursor For

Honesty matters. Here's where Cursor stays closed:

Cursor is my implementation layer. Not my strategy layer. Not my memory layer. The moment I try to make it everything, it becomes nothing.

The Pro Plan: What's Actually Worth It

The free tier is generous. I used it for two weeks before upgrading. Here's what pushed me over:

At $20/month, if Composer saves me one 30-minute refactoring session, it paid for itself. It saves me that every week.

The Real Cost of Not Using It

I measured this. Before Cursor, my workflow was:

  1. Open project
  2. Try to remember where I left off
  3. Open ChatGPT, explain the context
  4. Copy-paste code suggestions
  5. Fix the imports manually
  6. Realize the suggestion doesn't fit my architecture
  7. Repeat

Now it's:

  1. Open Cursor
  2. @AGENTS.md — "implement the next feature from TASKS.md"
  3. Review, adjust, commit

The loop went from 20+ minutes to under 5. That's not a productivity hack. That's a different category of work.

How to Try It

If you write code — whether that's full apps, scripts, or automation — Cursor is worth at least trying.

The free tier gives you 14 days of Pro features. No credit card. No lock-in. Just install it, open a project you know well, and try the @ context references. The first time it pulls in types from three files you didn't mention, you'll get it.

The Philosophy: Tools Should Earn Their Place

I remove tools from my stack constantly. I removed Claude integration entirely. I removed MongoDB. I removed Cloudflare R2. Every tool has to justify its existence every month.

Cursor is one of the few that doesn't just stay — it becomes more valuable the deeper I integrate it. It's not replacing my thinking. It's removing the friction between my thinking and the code.

That's the bar:

Not smarter than me, but fast enough that I stay in flow.

Cursor clears that bar. Everything else is noise.

From the same desk

The tools that clear this bar usually end up shaping the small, local-first macOS apps I ship.

See the apps