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Is Cursor Composer 2.5 the Best AI Coding Model? Let's Find Out
⏱ 17 min video · 2 min read20 May 2026
TL;DR
Chris reviews Cursor's new Composer 2.5 model, arguing it earns 'best AI coding model' status not through raw quality alone but through being up to 10x cheaper and significantly faster than Opus 4.7 and GPT-5.5 while matching their benchmark performance. He also walks through Cursor's agent workflow features to make the case that Cursor rivals or beats Codex and Claude Code as an AI coding environment.
Key points
1
Composer 2.5 matches GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7 on coding benchmarks while being up to 10x more cost-efficient per task
2
The model was trained in partnership with xAI using the Colossus 2 data center, combining Cursor's training techniques with significant compute power
3
Cursor's agent view includes a planning mode with Mermaid diagrams, inline clarifying questions, step-by-step to-dos, and a right-panel with browser, terminal, file viewer, PR view, and canvas
4
Chris recommends Composer 2.5 as a daily driver for most coding tasks, reserving Opus 4.7 for front-end design and GPT-5.5 for back-end/architectural work
5
Cursor subscribers get significantly more value from their plan by switching to Composer 2.5 due to its lower cost per task at equivalent quality
Actionable insights
→
Switch to Composer 2.5 as your default model in Cursor for everyday coding tasks to stretch your subscription further without sacrificing quality
→
Use Cursor's plan mode before building even simple features to get architecture diagrams, clarifying questions, and step-by-step to-dos before any code is written
→
Use the right-hand panel in Cursor to manage your terminal, file viewer, PR review, and GitHub workflow entirely inside the IDE without switching to a browser
Notable quotes
“It's not necessarily the best when it comes to quality, but when you look at it across the board of quality versus time to actually complete the task and the amount of money that it costs, it's setting a pretty high bar and a strong argument for being the best AI model at coding.”
“I am not a developer, and I use this all the time.”
“There isn't a best tool out of all of these apps. All of them work incredibly well.”
Worth watching?
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Worth watching the full video?
The key benchmarks, workflow tips, and model comparisons are all captured here — only watch the full video if you want to see the live Cursor agent demo and right-panel walkthrough in action.
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