Aligned decision fields, official evidence and explicit unknowns. Rows where the two products genuinely diverge are highlighted — toggle to see only those.
| Decision field | Cursor | OpenAI Codex |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | Standalone AI-first IDE (VS Code fork), plus CLI and web agents.evidence: official docs | Cloud agent + CLI + IDE extension; tasks run in isolated sandboxes.evidence: official docs |
| Primary workflow | Editor-centric: you steer edits inline, agent mode for larger tasks. | Delegation-centric: assign tasks, review diffs/PRs when done. |
| Repo-scale context | Codebase indexing with embeddings; @-mentions for precise scoping. | Full repo cloned into the sandbox; agent explores with shell tools. |
| Parallel work | Background agents; one primary editing session at a time. | Many cloud tasks in parallel, each in its own container. |
| MCP support | Yes — client-side MCP config per project or global.evidence: official docs | Yes — MCP servers usable by the agent in supported surfaces.evidence: official docs |
| Model choice | Multi-vendor model picker (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI, in-house). | OpenAI models only, tuned for agentic coding. |
| Where code runs | Locally in your editor; optional cloud for background agents. | Remote sandbox by default; CLI can run locally. |
| Git & PR flow | Commits from the editor; agents can open PRs. | Branch + PR per task is the default output artifact. |
| Pricing shape | Seat subscription with usage tiers on top.evidence: pricing page | Included with ChatGPT plans, usage-limited by tier.evidence: pricing page |
| Enterprise controls | SSO/SCIM, privacy mode, admin analytics on business plans. | Workspace controls, data-retention options on enterprise plans. |
| Offline / air-gapped use | Unknown — no official statement reviewed. | Unknown — no official statement reviewed. |
| Fine-grained data retention | Partially documented; verify for your plan tier. | Partially documented; verify for your plan tier. |
Reviewed 2026-08. Fields marked unknown had no verifiable official source at review time — treat vendor claims elsewhere with care.
Both clients speak MCP — which means both can query your Graphify knowledge graph.