Cursor launches India-specific subscription ahead of SpaceX acquisition
AI coding startup Cursor, which is set to be acquired by SpaceX, has launched its first country-specific subscription in India — Cursor Start at about $7 per month.
Weeks before its expected acquisition by SpaceX closes in the third quarter of this year, AI coding startup Cursor is making its biggest push into India yet. On Monday, the company introduced Cursor Start, a ₹649-per-month (approximately $7) subscription tailored specifically for India, significantly lower than the standard $20 Pro plan. India has become Cursor's third-largest market globally, with the highest concentration of power users and a user base that has more than tripled over the past year, according to the startup. Simon Green, Cursor's head of Asia-Pacific and Japan, told TechCrunch that India's deep pool of engineering talent and technical competency made it the first market for localized pricing. Cursor Start includes access to the company's Composer 2.5 and Grok 4.5 models, along with higher usage limits than the free tier, but excludes frontier models from OpenAI and Anthropic as well as advanced features like Bugbot, Auto Mode, and the Cursor SDK. The plan is billed in Indian rupees and supports payments via UPI. Cursor says it will implement checks to prevent VPN users from accessing the India-only plan. The move follows similar initiatives by OpenAI and Anthropic, who have introduced India-specific plans. Green emphasized the plan is commercially sustainable, relying on Cursor's own AI models which have lower operating costs. Cursor is also expanding its India presence by hiring its first salesperson, a new leader in Delhi, establishing a government affairs office, and adding three technical support staff in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. The acquisition by SpaceX, announced after SpaceX's IPO, is expected to close in Q3. Meanwhile, Cursor will operate independently until the deal closes, but Green noted that SpaceX's Starlink presence in India could help lower barriers and accelerate growth afterward.
