SCANNING● LIVE DATAUTC 2026-06-29 00:00:00
VENDORS 23RECEIPTS 32CRITICAL 57D 0 NEWv0.9.4-rc1
gotnerfedgotnerfed
gotnerfed · index of recordfiled · · receipt #cursor-2025-06-credit-rebill
RECEIPT#CURS-2025-06-BMScritical
Cursor·AI-first code editor·scored68nerf/ 100

Cursor Pro silently shifts from 500 fast requests to dollar-denominated credits

Cursor's $20 Pro plan moved from 500 fast requests/month to a credit system that effectively cut usage to ~225 requests at the same price. CEO publicly apologized 3 weeks later.

Filed
2025-06-16
Observed
2025-06-16
Response window
REPLIED
Jurisdiction
MIT · public
CURSORNERFED68JUN 16, 2025INDEX · OF · RECORD
§ 01THE CHANGEBEFORE → AFTER · AI-FIRST CODE EDITOR
− BEFORE · REMOVED2025-06-16
$20 Pro = 500 fast requests/month
$20.00/mo·PRO · 500 FAST REQUESTS·active since 2024-01-15
+ AFTER · CURRENT2025-06-16
$20 Pro = ~225 dollar-denominated credits/month
$20.00/mo·PRO · ~225 CREDIT-DENOMINATED·billing shift from 2025-06-16
WAS$20 / mo · 500 fast requests/mo
NOW
$20 / mo · ~225 dollar-denominated credits/mo
-55%EFFECTIVE REQUEST CAPACITY CUT
PREDICTED IMPACT · EST.MED CONFIDENCE
USER IMPACT40-80%of paid users on the affected tier
12-MO FINANCIAL DAMAGE$10 - $60 per userplan change or workflow nudge
CHURN PRESSURE · 30DelevatedCEO apology partially restored trust; canonical 2025 nerf incident
Estimate based on the receipt's Nerf Index (68 / 100), the severity flag, and the kind of change (billing model shift). How we estimate ↗
§ 02PANEL VERDICT3 OF 3 HARMFUL
PANEL RULING · INDEX OF RECORD
FOUNDHARMFUL★ UNANIMOUS
VOTES3 / 3·AVG81 / 100·SPREAD±6·RUBRICsealed
0184
0278
0381
01claude-haiku-4-5HARMFUL· sealed rubric
Silent migration from fixed-request quota to credit-denominated billing without proactive notice represents a material reduction in paid value for heavy users.
84/ 100
benignsevere
02gpt-5-nanoHARMFUL· sealed rubric
Replacing a quantified request quota with dollar credits at the same headline price effectively halved capacity for power users; lack of advance notice compounds the harm.
78/ 100
benignsevere
03gemini-2-5-flashHARMFUL· sealed rubric
Customers reasonably relied on the 500-request advertised quota when committing to the Pro plan; the change unilaterally reduced delivered value mid-cycle.
81/ 100
benignsevere
Each model graded independently behind a sealed rubric. Verdicts are immutable and Brier-scored against subsequent reality - a public model-accuracy leaderboard, on us. Read the rubric ↗
§ 03VENDOR RESPONSE WINDOWCLOSED · VENDOR REPLIED
Cursor · response window CLOSEDVENDOR RESPONDED
FILED2025-06-16
UNCONTESTED ON2025-07-16
NOW · DAY 378

Cursor responded on day 378; their statement is attached below.

§ 04EVIDENCE TRAIL2 SOURCES
CONTEXT · NARRATIVEfiled by gotnerfed · 2025-06-16

On June 16, 2025 Cursor migrated Pro subscribers from a fixed 500-request quota to dollar-denominated credits without proactive email notice.

On June 16, 2025 Cursor migrated Pro subscribers from a fixed 500-request quota to dollar-denominated credits without proactive email notice. Heavy users reported their effective request count dropped to roughly 225/month at the same $20 price, while a vocal subset received four-figure overage bills before the new model was clearly explained. Cursor posted an apology and partial refund window on July 4, 2025. This is the canonical 'AI plan nerf' incident of 2025 and the reason GotNerfed exists.

DETECTED2025-06-16KINDBILLING MODEL SHIFTSEVERITYCRITICALSOURCES2VENDOR REPLYON FILE
PRIMARY SOURCES · CHRONOLOGICAL02 / 02
DOC
TechCrunch: Cursor apologizesSource · techcrunch.com
DOC
Cursor pricing megathreadSource · forum.cursor.com
§ 05NEXT STEP · ESCAPE POD4 RANKED ALTS
◆ FREE / OPEN-SOURCE ALTERNATIVES4 ranked replacements for Cursor.avg score 90 / 100
OpenCodeFREE / OSS
MIT·120k

Open-source Claude Code / Cursor replacement that lives in the terminal. Pick when you want zero vendor lock-in and any LLM backend.

MIT

Permissive (MIT) open-weight model targeting ChatGPT/Claude-class chat and agentic coding without API lock-in - the strongest open option for a self-hosted stack.

AGPL-3.0·60k

ChatGPT's Code Interpreter, but local and against any model.

Modified MIT

Near-frontier open-weight model to back a self-hosted ChatGPT/Claude replacement or an agentic coding stack.

List manually curated · last reviewed 2026-05-13Open full picker
Filed by gotnerfed · public open-source watchdog · MIT licensed · no vendor moneyINDEX · OF · RECORD