Building Business Apps - Cursor vs. Replit
For a while now, I've been very interested in using AI to build BI-type apps. I know you can do it with Cursor, but it requires a strong technical background. I've heard people have had great success with Replit, so I thought I would give it a go. I decided to build the same app in both Cursor and Replit. It's a kind of battle of the tools.
I chose to build a simple tool that shows the weather and news for a given location.
Round 1: getting started/ease of use
I gave both contenders the same prompt and asked them to build me an app. Both tools gave me an app in about the same time. However, I found Replit much, much easier to use; by contrast, Cursor can be tough to get started with.
Round 1 is a decisive victory for Replit.
Round 2: building the app
Both apps had problems and I needed to tweak them to get them working. I found I had to give Replit multiple prompts to fix problems; these problems just didn't occur in Cursor. Replit got stuck on some simple things and I had to get creative with prompting to get round them, all the while my AI token consumption went up. Cursor didn't need this level of imaginative prompting.
I'm giving this round to Cursor on points.
Round 3: editing the visual layout
Replit let me edit the visual layout of the app directly, while Cursor did not. I know Cursor has a visual editor, but I just couldn't get it to work. This is of course an ease of use thing, and overall, Replit is easier. For this app, I didn't need to tweak the layout but it's an important consideration.
Round 3 is a decisive victory for Replit.
Round 4: what is the app doing?
I wanted to know what the apps were doing "under the hood" so I wanted to see the code. Cursor is unashamedly a code editor, so it was simple. By contrast, Replit hides the code away and it requires a bit of digging.
On a related theme, Cursor is much better at debugging.
Round 4 is a victory for Cursor.
Round 5: changing the app under the hood
I wanted to change the app "under the hood", which meant changing some of the code. Cursor generates code that's very well commented, so it's easy to see what's going on. By contrast, Replit's code is sparsely commented and I found it difficult to understand what each file did. Bear in mind though, Replit is trying to be an app creation tool not a code editor.
Round 5 is a victory for Cursor.
Round 6: running the app locally
Both Replit and Cursor did well here. This round is a draw.
Round 7: deploying the app to the web
Replit makes this really easy, There's a simple process to go through and your app is deployed. Cursor doesn't do deployment and the deployment services like Render have a learning curve.
Round 7 is a victory for Replit.
A disturbing thought
I was looking at how both apps turned out and something struck me when I was looking at the code for the Cursor app: what services did these apps use? I didn't specify what APIs I wanted to use, the AIs chose for me.
Both of these apps converted an address to a latitude/longitude, showed a map, got local news, got a climate chart for the year, and so on. But what APIs (services) did they use underneath? What were the terms and conditions of the services? What are the limitations of the services? The answer is: you have to find out for yourself. Which means either asking the AI or digging into the code.
If I sign up for an API key, I have to go to a website, read what the service offers, and accept the terms and conditions. For example, some APIs forbid commercial use, some are very rate limited, and others require an acknowledgment in the app or web page. If you build an app using an AI, how do you know what you've agreed to? Will your app get rate limited? Will you get banned for using the API service inappropriately? What are the risks? It seems like a feeble defense to say "my AI made me do it".
It looks like the onus is on you to figure this out, which is definitely a problem.
Who won?
Looking at the results of the contest, my answer is: it depends on your end goal.
If you want a tool to let you build a "simplish" app and you don't have much, if any, coding experience, then Replit is the clear winner. On the downside, it will be very difficult to add more complex features later.
If you want to build a more complex app and you have coding experience, then Cursor wins. Cursor also wins if you think that you'll need to edit the app code in the future.
What would I chose for internal reporting or BI-type development? On balance, Cursor, but it's not a clear victory. Here's my logic.
- I love the idea of democratizing analysis. I like giving users the power to answer their own questions. This would appear to favor Replit, but...
- I worry about maintainability and extendability. I've seen too many cases where a one-off app has become business critical and no-one knows how to maintain it. This favors Cursor because in my view, it produces more maintainable code.
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