Can You Sell Code Written with Cursor AI? Commercial Rights (2026)

Just switched from GitHub Copilot to Cursor for my freelance development work. My whole workflow now relies on Cursor's AI features (Tab completion, Composer, Chat). Questions:

• Do I own code written/generated through Cursor?
• Any license contamination risks like with Copilot?
• Cursor Pro vs Business — any IP differences?
• Can I use Cursor for commercial client projects?

Cursor's terms are straightforward on ownership:

Code ownership:

• "You retain all rights to code you write using Cursor" — clear and simple
• Applies to all plan tiers (Free, Pro, Business)
• No revenue restrictions or usage caps on commercial deployment

vs GitHub Copilot:

• Similar ownership terms — both grant you full ownership
• Cursor uses multiple AI models (GPT-4, Claude) rather than Copilot's dedicated Codex model
• Copilot Business has Microsoft IP indemnity; Cursor does not offer indemnification
• Both have potential license contamination from training data

License contamination risk:

• Cursor routes through third-party models (OpenAI, Anthropic) that were trained on public code
• Same theoretical risk as Copilot — generated code could match GPL/copyleft-licensed code
• No built-in duplicate detection filter like Copilot offers

We use Cursor Business across our 15-person engineering team. A few practical notes:

• Cursor Business adds privacy mode — your code isn't used for model training
• We pair Cursor with FOSSA for license compliance scanning in our CI/CD pipeline
• In 8 months of heavy use, we've had zero license contamination flags
• The practical risk is extremely low for typical web/SaaS development

The bigger concern for enterprises is the data privacy angle. Cursor sends your code to third-party AI providers (OpenAI, Anthropic) for processing. Make sure your data handling requirements allow this.

@SarahE_Counsel The lack of IP indemnification concerns me. If a client's codebase gets flagged for license issues from Cursor-generated code, am I liable?

@fullstack_dev_2025 As the developer, you're responsible for the code you deliver to clients regardless of which tools you use. Cursor's terms explicitly disclaim liability for IP issues in generated code.

Practical protection:

• Your freelance contract should limit your liability for third-party IP claims
• E&O (errors and omissions) insurance can cover this — it's affordable for freelancers
• Run license scanning on your deliverables before handoff
• The actual risk of someone pursuing a GPL infringement claim over an AI-suggested code snippet is currently theoretical

If IP indemnity is critical (enterprise clients), GitHub Copilot Business/Enterprise with Microsoft's indemnification may be the safer choice despite Cursor's superior UX.

Solo dev perspective: I built and launched 3 SaaS products entirely using Cursor Pro ($20/mo). All generating revenue. Zero legal issues. The ownership terms are clear — your code is yours.

For indie devs and small teams, the IP indemnity question is mostly academic. Nobody is going to sue you over a Cursor-suggested function. The license scanning pipeline approach is overkill for most of us. Just use the tool and build your product.