Cursor developers looking for a more robust development environment may want to consider switching to IntelliJ IDEA. This popular IDE offers a balance between out-of-the-box functionality and powerful customization.
One key advantage of IntelliJ IDEA is its AI-powered tools, which include the AI Assistant and Junie. The AI Assistant provides context-aware code completion, helps understand complex code, and generates improvements. Junie automates repetitive development tasks such as writing unit tests and generating boilerplate configurations for frameworks like Spring.
IntelliJ IDEA also offers a more guided experience with its Project Wizard, which simplifies the setup process by configuring the environment based on the developer’s tasks and requirements. This eliminates the need to search for and install external tools and plugins, making it easier to get started with coding.
In contrast to Cursor, IntelliJ IDEA is better suited for large-scale applications and offers a more comprehensive suite of built-in tools and integrations. While it may have a steeper learning curve for beginners, its scalability, interactive courses, and AI Assistant make it an ideal choice for professional developers working on complex projects.
To migrate from Cursor to IntelliJ IDEA, developers can import their settings with just a few clicks and recreate familiar workflows using the command palette, search and replace tools, and gutter icon debugging features. These enhancements provide even greater productivity in the IDE and support development at every stage.
Source: https://blog.jetbrains.com/idea/2025/06/migrate-cursor-to-intellij-idea