If you’ve been exploring the vibe-coding, AI-coding, or no-coding scene lately, you must’ve heard countless ‘best’ tools already. But the best tool actually depends on what your goals are, your technical experience, and your needs.

Natively and Cursor are two popular AI-powered tools used to build software and apps. So, what’s the difference? That’s what we’ll breakdown in this article.

Natively is an AI-powered, no code mobile app builder designed for anyone who wants to build an app. It doesn’t require you know coding to build functional iOS and Android apps.

Cursor, on the other hand, is an AI-integrated assistance tool for developers. To use Cursor, you need to know how to read, understand, and debug code.

Although the two platforms work to build software with AI, they work in drastically different ways. Let’s find out the key differences across various aspects to understand these tools better.

Cursor vs. Natively: Key Differences

Cursor and Natively are both tools that can help you build software faster, but the ways they work are completely different. You can find their comparisons in various aspects below:

AI-Powered vs. Code

The biggest difference between these two tools is how you can build an app with them and the way your app functions.

Natively is an AI-powered native app builder. In simple words, the AI writes every line of code for you. All you need to do is write your prompt in the prompt box and the AI will build the app within minutes.

If you want to make any changes, you can use iterative prompting. The biggest advantage is: You don’t have to learn to code to build apps with Natively.

Cursor is an AI-powered code editor with traditional text-based code editing functionalities. It is a developer-first tool and so, you must be familiar with code to use Cursor effectively.

The tool has two models: Ask and Agent. The ‘Ask’ mode allows you to ask questions about your code without making changes. The ‘Agent’ mode explores, plans, writes, and debugs code.

While Cursor’s AI is quite effective at code generation, you need to be able to understand the code to test it, find bugs, and add any advanced features. Unlike Natively, it isn’t as easy to use for non-coders.

So, should you use Cursor or build with AI? It depends on how skilled you are. If you aren’t proficient at reading code, it’s better to not use Cursor. When AI gets stuck at debugging and you can’t troubleshoot, you’ll get stuck.

Data & Integrations

Building apps is more than the code itself. It also involves integrations, database, a server, security and more. That’s one of the crucial aspects to consider.

Natively is equipped with the tools and integrations necessary for building, launching, and scaling apps. Once you’ve entered a prompt, the AI creates the app’s UI design. But it isn’t functional yet.

You have to connect your project to Supabase to add integrations and servers. This allows you add any type of integration, such as Stripe, text generation, and even an AI within your app. The best part is that you don’t have to do it manually.

With Cursor, it isn’t as easy though. It is a tool for writing code faster and thus, you need to code your own integrations and keep up with the updates manually. This requires more logic and effort to build an app.

Lastly, you can deploy your app in one click on Natively. To do the same, you’ll need to export your code and deploy manually on Cursor. Both the platforms help you build functional apps — it’s the process that’s different.

AI Capabilities

Both Natively and Cursor are AI-powered tools, but they work very differently. Here’s an explanation:

Natively’s AI turns user prompts into visually appealing, functional apps within ten minutes. You start by writing your idea into the prompt box, and then Natively’s AI works to build your app’s first version.

If you want to make any changes to the design, features, or functionalities, you can try iterative prompting. In addition, you can view the “code” version of the app to see how the AI does it.

Since Cursor is built for developers, it uses AI to write, debug, and iterate on your code. In Ask mode, the AI can help you research and resource answers about your code. In Agent mode, it can assist you to write, debug, and fix the code directly.

Cursor’s AI ideal for:

Writing and running terminal commands
Detecting errors automatically and debugging
Making multi-line edits to your code
Autocorrecting simple code typos
Referencing and searching your code to help spot errors, answer your questions, and improve the code

To conclude, Cursor is the go-to AI assistant for coding. If you’re looking to build faster, Natively is the best AI app builder with its simple interface.

Target Audience

Apart from the way Cursor and Natively work, they also cater to different audiences.

Natively allows anyone build mobile apps regardless of their coding knowledge, while Cursor is useful only to developers who understand code.

In addition to the no-code feature, Natively is also suitable for coders. Here’s how: Suppose that you’ve built the basic version of your app but you want to add more complex features to it. You can easily access and modify the app’s code.

But can non-coders use Cursor? It actually depends. You can use Cursor to try coding. But the real problem occurs when the tool generates code that you won’t understand. The more you try to understand it, the more you’ll run into bugs and errors that you can’t solve.

That is one problem with Cursor for non-coders. To effectively use it, you also need to understand the complexities of programming languages and software. Without the technical knowledge, it’s really hard to prompt and build an app with Cursor.

Natively vs. Cursor: Which is Suitable for Your Idea?

AI-assisted coding and no-code have different applications of use. While AI-assisting tools such as Cursor can help developers speed up their process of building an app, they need your coding knowledge to work efficiently.

No-code AI builders like Natively, on the other hand, can be used by anyone. Non-coders can build apps using AI prompts and coders can do the same while adding their own functionalities.

In addition to the basic differences, no code apps are more stable and easier to maintain. You don’t have to debug endlessly, manage servers, or balance loads. The platform does everything for you — and if you run into a problem, just contact Natively’s support team.

Curious how no code, AI app builders work? Build your first app with Natively today.