The popular AI-powered coding tool Cursor, developed by US-based tech startup Anysphere, has caused a stir by quietly removing India from its free one-year Pro subscription plan for students. Initially, the offer was available to students globally, including those in India, but it was recently pulled down without any official explanation from the company. This move has sparked widespread criticism across the internet, especially among Indian students who were previously eligible for the offer.
The free Pro subscription provided students with access to 500 fast requests per month for various AI models, including GPT-4o, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and Grok-3. To avail the plan, students had to verify their enrollment or email, and while payment details were required, there were no charges for the first year. After the free year, standard charges would apply unless the subscription was canceled.
However, when many Indian students tried to register for the program recently, they were surprised to find that India was no longer on the eligibility list. Several users took to online forums to express their frustration, highlighting India’s significant contribution to the global tech ecosystem. One user lamented, “Omitting India is a mistake,” while another remarked, “Injustice is done to Indian students. Many were still trying to get in.”
While Cursor has not officially addressed the issue, speculations have emerged that the removal of India from the program might have been a response to issues like misuse, including account reselling or spam, which could have led the company to take action. The decision to remove the offer for Indian users seems to have been made quietly, without any prior announcement, and might be part of a broader effort to curb abuse of the free plan.
Cursor, which is based on Microsoft's Visual Studio Code and supports various large language models like its own as well as those from OpenAI and Anthropic, has been experiencing rapid growth. The company recently reached over a million daily users and saw its annual recurring revenue double from $100 million in January to $200 million in April. Anysphere’s valuation has skyrocketed to nearly $9 billion, and the company just closed a $900 million funding round led by Thrive Capital. Despite the impressive growth, the decision to exclude Indian students from the offer has raised eyebrows, particularly as the company continues to expand globally.
This shift has left many questioning why India, a major player in the global tech scene, was excluded from the offer, especially when Cursor is experiencing such rapid global success.
