Coming from a desktop AI editor?
Keep the editor experience and the agent, and drop the local setup. Your projects run in the cloud and are the same on every computer.
Compare
How Altarus Nexus compares
There are three common ways to build software with AI today: desktop AI editors such as Cursor and Windsurf, AI app builders such as Bolt, Lovable and v0, and cloud development environments such as GitHub Codespaces. Altarus Nexus brings the useful parts of each into one browser workspace.
| Capability | Altarus Nexus | Desktop AI editors | AI app builders | Cloud dev environments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Your browser, with a cloud machine per project | A desktop app on your computer | A hosted builder in the browser | A cloud machine you connect an editor to |
| Setup before coding | None | Install the editor and your project tools locally | None | Configure a dev container or image |
| AI agent that edits, runs and tests code | Yes | Yes, on your local machine | Generates apps from prompts | Usually added through a separate extension |
| Checks UI changes in a real browser with screenshots and video | Yes | Varies by product | Varies by product | Not built in |
| Full code access and your own Git repository | Yes | Yes | Varies; some hide or limit the code | Yes |
| Agents keep working after you close the laptop | Yes, background and parallel agents in the cloud | Only while your computer is on, unless the product offers cloud agents | Yes | Yes, but without a built-in agent |
| Built-in Postgres and file storage, linked automatically | Yes | No, bring your own | Some offer a built-in backend | No, bring your own |
| Secrets the agent can use but never see | Yes | Varies by product | Varies by product | Secrets as environment variables |
| Idle machines pause automatically | Yes | Not applicable | Varies by product | Usually, after a timeout |
Compared by category, based on publicly documented features as of October 2026. Individual products differ and change often; check each product's documentation for details. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Coming from an app builder?
Keep building from prompts, and get the real code, tests, Git history and a database you control.
Coming from a cloud IDE?
Keep the remote machines, and add an agent that plans, builds and verifies inside them.
Questions
Comparison questions
Is Altarus Nexus an alternative to Cursor?
Yes, for people who want an AI coding agent without setting up a local machine. Cursor is a desktop editor that runs on your computer. Altarus Nexus runs in the browser, gives every project its own cloud machine and database, and checks its work in a real browser.
How is it different from AI app builders?
App builders turn a prompt into an app. Nexus does that too, but in a full development environment: real code in your own repository, a terminal, tests, code review and the frameworks you choose.
How is it different from a cloud development environment?
Cloud development environments give you a remote machine. Nexus adds an AI agent built into the workspace, a data layer, secrets the agent cannot read, and machines that pause when idle.
Try it on your next idea
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