Cursor launches India-specific subscription ahead of SpaceX acquisition
As it prepares for a $60 billion all-stock deal with SpaceX, the firm is expanding local hiring and enterprise sales in India, introducing a lower-cost plan that excludes frontier third-party models.
AI coding startup Cursor has introduced Cursor Start, a country-specific subscription priced at ₹649 per month, targeting the Indian market as it prepares for an anticipated $60 billion all-stock acquisition by SpaceX. The launch coincides with preparations for the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026. India is now Cursor’s third-largest global market, with its user base more than tripling in the past year. To support this growth, Cursor is expanding its local presence through new hires, including its first salesperson in the country, leadership roles in Delhi, and technical support staff in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. The company is also establishing a government affairs office and initiating enterprise sales in sectors such as banking.
Cursor Start provides access to Cursor’s Composer 2.5 model and Grok 4.5, along with cloud agents, an iOS app, plugins, Model Context Protocol support, hooks, and skills. The plan excludes access to frontier AI models from third-party providers like OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as advanced features including Bugbot, Auto Mode, Automations, and the Cursor SDK. Simon Green, Cursor’s head of Asia-Pacific and Japan, stated that India is now Cursor’s third-largest global market and home to its highest concentration of power users, with the user base more than tripling over the past year. The subscription is billed in Indian rupees and supports payments via credit/debit cards and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Cursor is implementing checks to ensure the India-only plan is restricted to individual users within the country, including measures to deter access via virtual private networks (VPNs). Cursor has partnered with SpaceX since April 2026 to develop a next-generation "coding and knowledge work AI." Green indicated that SpaceX’s existing Starlink infrastructure in India could help Cursor expand faster by lowering commercial and operational barriers post-acquisition.
Cursor is not alone in tailoring its pricing for India. OpenAI and Anthropic have also rolled out India-specific plans over the past year as global AI companies compete for users in one of the world’s fastest-growing AI markets. While Cursor Start is initially limited to India, Green told TechCrunch that the startup could expand localized pricing to other markets if the model proves successful. “We will continue to do everything we can to fuel the demand and serve those clients that are using us,” Green said. “Now, if this model proves that we could take it to other markets, perhaps we will. But I think it’d be crazy to say we would never do it elsewhere.”
Cursor’s India expansion comes a little over a month after Elon Musk’s SpaceX agreed to acquire the AI coding startup in a $60 billion all-stock deal, following SpaceX’s blockbuster initial public offering. The acquisition is expected to close in Q3. However, SpaceX has been partnered with Cursor since April to develop a next-generation “coding and knowledge work AI.” Green said Cursor will continue to operate independently until the transaction closes and that the company’s India expansion plans were already in motion before the deal. Once the acquisition closes, however, Green said SpaceX’s existing presence in India through Starlink could help Cursor expand faster by lowering commercial and operational barriers.
