In a move that has sparked controversy across the Indian tech community, viral AI-based coding platform Cursor has quietly excluded India from its free one-year Pro subscription plan for students. The offer, which allowed students to access powerful AI tools including GPT-4o, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and Grok-3 for free over a 12-month period, was initially available in India but has now been silently removed without any formal announcement.
Cursor, developed by US-based tech startup Anysphere, quickly gained popularity among coders and developers for offering AI-assisted coding within a familiar interface based on Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code. The tool supports multiple advanced language models and had recently launched a global outreach campaign targeting students with a year-long free Pro plan to help them access cutting-edge tools. While the offer remains active for many countries, India has been mysteriously excluded.
Students from India attempting to sign up have noticed their country no longer appears in the eligibility list during registration. Cursor’s official website and forums have since been flooded with posts from frustrated users who were either midway through signing up or had planned to do so. The sudden change has triggered widespread criticism, especially given India’s prominent role in the global software and developer ecosystem.
Although no public explanation has been issued by Anysphere or Cursor, several users speculate that the removal could be linked to issues such as misuse of the offer possibly involving account reselling or mass spam registrations. Some forum participants suggested that Cursor may have acted preemptively to curb abuse by restricting access from regions with high misuse risk. However, such a move, done silently and without clarification, has been deemed unfair by many.
One user commented, “Omitting India is a mistake,” while another wrote, “Injustice is done to Indian students; many were still trying to get in.” With India contributing one of the largest developer communities globally, the backlash has been swift and visible on social media and developer forums. Cursor’s silence is notable, especially as the company experiences explosive growth. Anysphere, founded by four MIT graduates in 2022, recently closed a $900 million funding round led by Thrive Capital. It has more than doubled its annual recurring revenue from $100 million in January to $200 million by April 2025 and is currently valued at around $9 billion. Reports even indicate that OpenAI showed interest in acquiring the company, a testament to its rapid rise and influence.
Despite the company’s success, the quiet removal of India from its student initiative could tarnish its growing reputation, particularly in the developer world where transparency and community trust play a crucial role. Cursor’s student plan requires email or enrollment proof, and though users are asked for payment details during sign-up, they are not charged for the first year. Standard plan rates apply after 12 months unless canceled. As Cursor continues its global expansion, the exclusion of a major tech hub like India raises important questions about access, fairness, and the responsibilities of rapidly scaling startups. Whether Cursor will clarify its decision or reinstate access for Indian students remains to be seen. Until then, the frustration among aspiring developers in one of the world’s largest tech talent pools continues to grow.
