VS Code is to modern text editors what Chromium is to browsers: a fork magnet. A slew of niche spins have emerged, each putting their own spin on Microsoft’s massively popular original. The latest to join the fray is Void, an open-source alternative to Cursor.
Cursor is a subscription-based, cross-platform AI-powered text editor that has gained considerable attention. It offers AI-powered code completion, predictive coding, code generation, edit suggestions, and predictive cursor positioning. However, most of its “good” features require a paid subscription, and there is some privacy baggage that only users of the $80/m plan can opt-out of.
Enter Void, which positions itself as a free, open-source rival to Cursor, albeit with notable differences. While Void is AI-centric, it’s not chained to a specific set of cloud-based, proprietary LLMs like Cursor. Instead, it aims to work just as well with locally hosted LLMs through Ollama or connect directly to preferred cloud models like Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT.
All core AI code editing features are said to be present in Void, including code auto-completion, inline auto-editing, and a sidebar from which to post questions and receive answers. The development team is encouraging developers to collaborate, help shape the roadmap, and start adding to the available AI integrations and so on.
A selection of experimental AI features will be available to test, including code generation and AI-powered code search contributed by the community. For those who enter the switch from VS Code, Void offers compatibility with a huge array of themes, plugins, and add-ons that exist for VS Code. Additionally, users can port over their keybindings and other settings.
Void is free, open-source software under active development. While no binary builds have been released as of writing, interested users can join the waitlist to be notified once they’re available. Alternatively, those who are dab hands at compiling can fetch the source code from Github and build it to try it out. More details on the Void website.
Source: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/void-editor-open-source-cusor-alternative