May 5, 2026 · 4 min read

# CCE vs Cursor Built-in Indexing

Both index your code for AI context. Different tradeoffs. Here's an honest comparison.

| CCE | Cursor
--- | --- | ---
Privacy | Fully local | Cloud-indexed
Editors supported | 6 editors | Cursor only
Setup | One command | Zero (built in)
Token savings | 94% (benchmarked) | Unknown (proprietary)
Savings tracking | Per-query, with dollars | None
Cross-session memory | Yes | No
Editor state awareness | No | Yes (tabs, cursor)
Embedding quality | Open-source model | Proprietary (likely better)
Cost | Free, MIT | $20/mo+ (Pro)

## Where Cursor wins

Zero setup. Open a project, start coding. Cursor's indexing is invisible and deeply integrated. It also sees your open tabs, cursor position, and recent edits, giving it richer real-time context than CCE can provide.

Their proprietary embeddings are trained specifically for code retrieval and likely outperform open-source models on ambiguous queries.

If you only use Cursor and don't mind cloud indexing, there's no reason to add CCE.

## Where CCE wins

Editor independence. If you switch between Claude Code and Cursor, or use VS Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, or OpenCode, Cursor's index doesn't follow you. CCE works across all of them with a single index.

Privacy. Your code never leaves your machine. No cloud processing, no API keys, no data retention.

Measurable savings. Run `cce savings` and see exactly how many tokens and dollars CCE saved. Cursor doesn't expose this data.

Cross-session memory. Decisions and architectural context persist across sessions. Cursor starts fresh every time.

## Can you use both?

Yes. They don't conflict. CCE registers as an MCP server in Cursor's config. Cursor's native indexing still works alongside it. You get both Cursor's real-time context and CCE's semantic search with savings tracking.

### Try CCE alongside Cursor

Free, local, no conflict with Cursor's built-in indexing.

    uv tool install code-context-engine && cce init

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#CCEvsCursor #CursorAlternative #CodeIndexing #SaveTokens #ClaudeCode #AICoding #MCPServer #OpenSource