How to Check Cursor Usage and Token Cost

Cursor is an IDE, not a CLI agent, so it keeps its usage data server-side rather than in local log files. That means its built-in dashboard at cursor.com/settingsis actually pretty good for Cursor-specific numbers — you can see requests per billing period and how close you are to usage-based billing territory. The catch is that it only knows about Cursor. If you also open a terminal and run Claude Code or Codex on the same codebase, those tokens are invisible to Cursor's dashboard. npx whoburnedmorefills that gap: it reads every tool's local log files and produces one unified total.

Where do I find my Cursor usage data?

Cursor surfaces two kinds of usage information, and knowing which one you need saves time:

The cursor.com/settings dashboard

Log in to cursor.com/settings and click the Usagetab. You'll see the count of fast requests (premium model, counts against your monthly quota) and slow requests (slower fallback model, effectively unlimited on paid plans). Cursor Pro includes 500 fast requests per month; usage-based billing activates once you exceed that, at roughly $0.04 per additional fast request. The dashboard resets on your monthly billing date.

What “requests” means vs. tokens

Cursor bills by requests, not raw tokens — each tab completion or chat turn counts as one fast request regardless of whether you sent 50 words or 2,000. The underlying models (Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, etc.) consume tokens internally, but Cursor abstracts that into a flat per-request price. This is different from terminal agents like Claude Code or Codex, which expose raw token counts directly.

How do I calculate my Cursor token cost?

Because Cursor sells requests rather than tokens, the effective cost formula is simpler than for CLI tools:

For a Cursor Pro subscriber ($20/month) who uses 640 fast requests in a given month, the overage math is: 140 extra requests × $0.04 = $5.60, making the total $25.60 for that month. That's before you add what you spent in Claude Code or Codex during the same period — which is where a cross-tool view becomes valuable.

$ npx whoburnedmore↳ scanning local usage logs…   TOOL          TOKENS       EST. COST  claude code   14.2M        $47.20  codex          6.8M        $18.50  gemini cli     3.1M         $4.10  cursor        (add from cursor.com/settings)  ─────────────────────────────────────────  cli total     24.1M        $69.80

How does Cursor compare to CLI agents for token spend?

Cursor's flat-request pricing can be either a bargain or expensive depending on how heavily you use each feature. Here's how the billing models line up:

When Cursor's request model is cheaper

If you write long prompts with large context windows and your chat turns are meaty, Cursor's flat per-request pricing can be significantly cheaper than paying per-token at API rates. A single Claude 3.5 Sonnet API call at 50,000 tokens costs roughly $0.75 in input tokens alone — but Cursor counts it as one fast request ($0.04 on usage-based billing, or just one of your 500 included on Pro). For heavy long-context users, the IDE model wins.

When per-token pricing wins

For quick, short queries — a one-line code suggestion or a 10-token autocomplete — the per-request overhead in Cursor can feel wasteful compared to paying exactly what the tokens cost. Terminal agents with direct API access let you tune the model and context size to match the task, paying precisely for what you use.

How do I track Cursor alongside my other tools?

The workflow that gives you a complete monthly picture requires two sources:

1. 1

   Pull your Cursor request count

   Visit cursor.com/settings, click the Usage tab, and note your fast-request count and any overage charges shown in the billing section.
2. 2

   Run whoburnedmore for your CLI agents

   npx whoburnedmore reads Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, opencode, and the newer terminal agents (Amp, Droid, Goose) from their local log files. You get token counts and estimated API-equivalent costs per tool.
3. 3

   Compare with GitHub Copilot if you use it

   If you also have a Copilot subscription, its premium-request model is similar to Cursor's — see how to check GitHub Copilot premium request usage for the same manual + CLI workflow.
4. 4

   Add up the full picture

   Cursor cost + whoburnedmore CLI total = your real AI coding bill. Doing this once a month takes under two minutes and makes your next tool decision data-driven.

Does whoburnedmore touch my Cursor data?

No. Because Cursor stores usage server-side, npx whoburnedmore cannot and does not access your cursor.com account, your Cursor API keys, or any Cursor-side data. It only reads the local log files that CLI tools write to your filesystem — directories like ~/.claude, ~/.codex, and similar. You supply your Cursor numbers manually. Your prompts, code, and file names are never read or transmitted by whoburnedmore. Run npx whoburnedmore --dry-run to see exactly what it would submit before anything leaves your machine. 🛡️

For a broader comparison of how IDE-based tools stack up against terminal agents on cost and flexibility, the GitHub Copilot usage guidecovers the same request-vs-token billing distinction with Copilot's specific numbers.