Cursor Rules alternatives

Persistent instructions injected at start of model context: Project Rules (.mdc files in .cursor/rules, scoped Always/Auto Attached/Agent Requested/Manual), global User Rules, and AGENTS.md; legacy .cursorrules deprecated. Full Cursor Rules record →

  1. 1 AGENTS.md File-backed / editor paradigms

    also in File-backed / editor paradigms · same storage (file) · same retrieval (injection) · same memory unit (document)

    OSS ✓ Self-host ✓ Managed ? MCP ? ★ 25k MIT Compare with Cursor Rules →

  2. 2 Cline .clinerules File-backed / editor paradigms

    also in File-backed / editor paradigms · same storage (file) · same retrieval (injection) · same memory unit (document) · also has MCP

    OSS ? Self-host ? Managed ? MCP ✓ Compare with Cursor Rules →

  3. 3 Cline Memory Bank File-backed / editor paradigms

    also in File-backed / editor paradigms · same storage (file) · same retrieval (injection) · same memory unit (document) · also has MCP

    OSS ? Self-host ? Managed ? MCP ✓ Compare with Cursor Rules →

  4. 4 Replit replit.md File-backed / editor paradigms

    also in File-backed / editor paradigms · same storage (file) · same retrieval (injection) · same memory unit (document) · also has MCP

    OSS ? Self-host ? Managed ? MCP ✓ Compare with Cursor Rules →

  5. 5 Zed .rules File-backed / editor paradigms

    also in File-backed / editor paradigms · same storage (file) · same retrieval (injection) · same memory unit (document) · also has MCP

    OSS ? Self-host ? Managed ? MCP ✓ Compare with Cursor Rules →

  6. 6 CLAUDE.md File-backed / editor paradigms

    also in File-backed / editor paradigms · same storage (file) · same retrieval (injection) · same memory unit (document)

    OSS ? Self-host ? Managed ? MCP ? Compare with Cursor Rules →

  7. 7 GitHub Copilot custom instructions File-backed / editor paradigms

    also in File-backed / editor paradigms · same storage (file) · same retrieval (injection) · same memory unit (document)

    OSS ? Self-host — Managed ✓ MCP ? Compare with Cursor Rules →

  8. 8 Aider CONVENTIONS.md / .aider.conf.yml File-backed / editor paradigms

    also in File-backed / editor paradigms · same storage (file) · same retrieval (injection) · same memory unit (document)

    OSS ? Self-host ? Managed ? MCP ? Compare with Cursor Rules →

Ranked by shared memory design (storage, retrieval, conflict handling, memory unit), same section and shared must-haves (open source, self-hosting, MCP), with adoption as a tie-breaker. ✓ confirmed · — no · ? not in the catalog yet. Want picks for your own requirements? Use the chooser. Checking a whole project? Check your stack.