Cursor vs Factory (2026)

Upgraded from P: invocation spans app, CLI, headless exec, cloud computers, mobile, Slack, and ticket systems as first class entry points, plus automations and CI. Ticket driven entry is the vendor's distinctive claim and it is a genuine trigger surface, not just an integration.

Upgraded from P: a semantic codebase index plus @codebase, @file and @folder scoping, project rules, MCP data sources and agents searching past conversations is grounding on the customer's own material across several layers.

Upgraded from P: a Knowledge layer indexing repo, docs and ticket history, plus wikis exposed through the API and AGENTS.md configuration, is grounding on the customer's own material across several sources rather than repository search alone.

Upgraded from P: agents searching past conversations as context is a documented memory capability added since the May grid, alongside persistent rules and cloud sessions that survive across devices.

Upgraded from P: cloud session sync across desktop, web and mobile plus a persistent Knowledge layer and wikis is durable cross session and cross surface state, not just context within a run.

Upgraded from P: a documented approval framework with tiered actions, a sandbox with granular network and filesystem controls, read only enforcement for Ask mode, and enterprise agent run settings. Recorded honestly: security researchers have published sandbox escape findings including CVE-2026-22708, and auto-run remains the documented risk surface, but the shipped guardrail mechanism is real and configurable.

Held at F on the documented enterprise surface, but confidence lowered to medium: the security and identity documentation was reached only through the docs navigation and the DeepWiki mirror rather than a first party security or trust page, and no attestation page was retrieved directly on either pass. SOC 2 Type II is reported consistently by third parties. Worth a dedicated fetch of a trust page next pass.

Held at F rather than downgraded, unlike most of this lane. The difference is that Cursor documents an AI code tracking API and audit logs as distinct enterprise products, not just usage telemetry: the API attributes which code was AI generated and the audit log records who did what. That is a retained organisation level record of agent activity, which is the axis, not a live progress view. Still short of a per action reasoning trace, which is why the basis says so.

Downgraded from F. Analytics and telemetry are documented as an enterprise capability and the API exposes analytics, but that is fleet level usage reporting rather than a per action execution trace reconstructing why a droid acted. Same reading applied across this lane; cursor held at F because it documents an AI code tracking API and audit log as distinct products, which was not retrievable here.

Held at P and the vendor is explicit about why: no on premises, hybrid or VPC deployment is offered, and even bring your own model keys route through Cursor's AWS infrastructure for prompt construction. Privacy Mode, CMEK and PrivateLink are strong data controls but they are not deployment or residency choice. This is the clearest cloud only posture in the lane.

On premises deployment is documented as an enterprise option alongside cloud Droid Computers and fully local CLI execution, which is genuine deployment choice. Contrast cursor, reviewed immediately before this, which explicitly offers no on premises path.

Upgraded from P: the Cursor Marketplace with /add-plugin installable bundles is a vendor operated distribution surface with named launch partners, which is the axis. It did not exist when the May grid was built; plugins shipped in 2.5 on 17 February 2026.

Model independence is a named platform capability with BYOK documented, so the customer both selects the model and can bring their own provider credentials; enterprise model policies and gateways let an organisation constrain that centrally.

Held at P per the lane wide axis rule. BugBot and the agent's own test running verify the customer's code and the agent's output; no harness for evaluating or regression testing agent behaviour is documented. Consistent with coderabbit, kiro, jetbrains-ai, google-antigravity and Claude Code in this lane.

Downgraded from F per the lane wide axis rule. QA automation and automated code review are droids acting on the customer's code, and the Agent Readiness framework assesses the customer's codebase, not agent behaviour. No harness for evaluating or regression testing the agents themselves is documented. Consistent with coderabbit, kiro, jetbrains-ai, google-antigravity, Claude Code and cursor.

Downgraded from F. The May basis carried no URL and no content, and neither pass found first party documentation of a browser or computer use tool. Background agents run in sandboxed cloud VMs and can reach the network under granular controls, but running in a sandbox is not the same as driving a browser through a human interface. Compare cline, where browser_action has its own docs page and the axis is clearly met. Recorded as not documented rather than absent.

Downgraded from F, same correction as cursor from this batch. The May basis had no URL and no content. Third party reporting says the Desktop app grants supervised access to a developer's browser, which would meet the axis, but no first party page documenting a browser tool was retrieved across two passes, and third party sources cannot establish a capability. Graded as not documented; this is the most likely cell to move back if a Desktop app docs page turns up.