So. Every week somebody asks me "Eugene, which AI coding tool should I pick? Cursor or Claude Code or Antigravity or Lovable or v0 or..." and the honest answer is: all of them. They do different things. Right? But that is a useless answer. So let me give you the real one.
I ship production apps with all three of these tools every single week. As a vibe coding expert in India running a Digital Scholar cohort plus 1:1 fractional engagements, I have a strong opinion on when each one wins. Here it is.
Quick verdict (TL;DR)
- Antigravity is the best free option. Use it for learning, for cohorts, and for new project scaffolding. Has both Gemini 3 Pro and Claude 4.6 built in.
- Cursor is the best daily-driver IDE for paid client work. The polish is worth ₹1,700/month if you ship for a living.
- Claude Code is the best terminal companion. For long refactors, agentic tasks, and anything you do not want to babysit.
If you can only pick one and you are starting out: Antigravity. If you can pay for one: Cursor. If you already have Cursor and want to level up: add Claude Code in your terminal.
Antigravity. Free, dual-model, underrated.
Google's AI-first IDE. Free. Sign in with Gmail. Has both Gemini 3 Pro (high and low) and Claude 4.6 (Sonnet and Opus) built into the same workspace. You can switch models mid-project without losing context. The credit pools are separate too. So when one runs out, you flip to the other and keep working.
Why it is the best entry point. The agent autonomy is configurable. You can set it to "Review Driven Development" so it shows you a plan before every major action. This is exactly how I want my cohort students to learn. They build muscle memory for reviewing AI plans, not just clicking yes.
Where it falls short. The IDE polish is behind Cursor. Some keyboard shortcuts feel a step slow. Credit refresh windows (every 4 to 5 days) can hit at the wrong time on a deadline. And the free tier, however generous, is still a free tier. If you are billing a client by the hour, the lost minutes from credit exhaustion add up.
Verdict. Best for learners, cohort students, side projects, and any vibe coding expert in India who wants to teach without making 30 students each pay $20/month for Cursor.
Cursor. The professional's daily driver.
Cursor in 2026 is unrecognisable from where it was in 2024. Back then it was a smarter autocomplete. Now it understands your full codebase, plans multi-file changes, runs tests, and self-corrects. The IDE itself is a fork of VS Code so every extension and shortcut you already know just works.
Why I pay for it.Speed. Polish. Reliability. When I am on a paid client engagement, every saved minute compounds. Cursor's diff view, command palette, and prompt-to-file accuracy save me 30 minutes a day vs Antigravity. Over a 30-day fractional engagement that is 15 hours back. At my hourly rate that pays for the subscription many times over.
Where it falls short.Pricing. ₹1,700+/month per seat is steep for students or small teams. And the model selection is fixed — you get Cursor's blend, you don't pick which Claude or Gemini variant runs.
Verdict. Best for any working vibe coding expert in India who ships for paying clients. Worth the money the moment your hourly rate clears ₹2,000.
Claude Code. The agentic terminal.
Anthropic's CLI tool. Lives in your terminal. You give it a task, it goes off, it runs commands, it checks the output, it fixes things, it comes back when it is done. It is the most "agent-like" of the three.
Why I run it alongside Cursor. 60% of my refactors happen in Claude Code now. Long boring tasks like "rename this variable across 80 files and update the migrations" are perfect for it. I kick it off, walk away, come back to a finished result and review the diff in Cursor. Best of both worlds.
Where it falls short. No GUI. The terminal-only experience scares some people. And it can occasionally go in a loop when the task is poorly defined. Always set clear stop conditions in your prompt.
Verdict.Add it on top of Cursor. Don't use it as your only tool unless you live in the terminal already.
Side-by-side
| Factor | Antigravity | Cursor | Claude Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | ~₹1,700/mo | ~₹1,700/mo (Pro) |
| Models | Gemini 3 Pro + Claude 4.6 | Cursor blend | Claude Sonnet/Opus |
| Best for | Learning, cohorts, side projects | Daily client work | Long refactors, terminal tasks |
| UI polish | Good | Excellent | CLI only |
| Frontend | Strong with Gemini | Strong | OK |
| Backend | Strong with Claude | Strong | Strongest |
| Agent autonomy | Configurable | Configurable | Highest |
My actual stack as a vibe coding expert in India
- Cursor open all day for client work. Daily driver.
- Claude Code in a separate terminal tab for long refactors and agentic tasks.
- Antigravity for cohort students and any project where I need free credits or want to demo planning mode.
- v0 or Lovable for landing pages I need in 15 minutes.
- n8n for any agentic glue between apps.
The biggest mistake I see new vibe coders make is picking one tool and refusing to switch. Each tool has a sweet spot. Use the right one for the task. That is how you ship 5 to 10 times faster than someone who is loyal to a single IDE.
FAQ
Which AI coding tool should a vibe coding expert in India use in 2026?+
All three, depending on the task. Antigravity (free, has Gemini 3 Pro and Claude 4.6 built in) for new projects and learners. Cursor for daily client work where you need maximum quality and the IDE polish. Claude Code for terminal-heavy refactors and longer agentic tasks. I switch between all three in a typical week.
Is Google Antigravity really free in India?+
Yes. Free with generous credit limits that refresh every 4 to 5 days. You sign in with a Gmail account. If your Gmail has Gemini Pro you get even more credits. This makes it the best entry point for any vibe coding expert in India who is just getting started or wants to teach their team without paying per seat.
Cursor or Claude Code for backend work?+
Claude Code for backend, every time. The Anthropic CLI integration handles long-running tasks better. It can run, observe, and fix without you babysitting it. Cursor is stronger for the IDE experience and frontend iteration where you want to see the diff visually before approving.
How much does Cursor cost compared to Antigravity?+
Cursor Pro is around $20 per month (₹1,700+). Antigravity is free. For a vibe coding expert in India just shipping side projects or teaching, Antigravity is enough. Once you are doing client work where every minute counts, the Cursor IDE polish is worth the $20.
Can I use Claude Code without paying for Cursor or Antigravity?+
Yes, Claude Code is its own product. Runs in your terminal. Works with a Claude Pro subscription (around $20 per month) or Anthropic API credits. Pairs beautifully with Antigravity if you want a hybrid free-plus-paid setup that maximises both Gemini and Claude.
What stack should I run as a vibe coding expert in India?+
Antigravity for new projects (especially when teaching). Cursor for paid client work. Claude Code in the terminal for the long tedious stuff. n8n for any agentic glue. v0 or Lovable when I just need a one-pager landing page in 15 minutes. That is the full stack I run.
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