Why More and More Designers Are Switching from Figma to Cursor

In the AI era, the battlefield of design tools has never been so intense. Figma, once the undisputed king with its collaboration features and visual prototyping, is now facing a quiet but rising wave sweeping through the design community: more and more designers are ditching Figma in favor of Cursor, an AI-powered code editor. According to recent industry discussions and reports, 89% of designers admit that AI tools have improved their workflows, and Cursor is at the heart of this transformation. Why is this happening? This article dives deep into the reasons behind this trend, combining real feedback from designers and tool comparisons to help you understand the future of design work.

What is Cursor? From Code Editor to Design Powerhouse

Cursor isn't your typical design software. Built on VS Code, it integrates advanced AI models (like Claude and GPT) and was originally designed for developers. But in 2025, it's quietly infiltrating the design world. Cursor lets users generate code, debug interactions, and even build full prototypes through natural language prompts. More importantly, its integration with Figma (like the MCP protocol) allows designers to import designs directly into code for seamless transitions.

Imagine this: In the past, you'd laboriously draw static frames in Figma; now, in Cursor, you just describe "a responsive dashboard with loading animations and API data," and AI generates runnable code. This isn't sci-fi—Atlassian's design lead Hardik Pandya has publicly stated he's "gone months without touching Figma" because Cursor makes his designs faster and more realistic.

Figma's Pain Points: The Limitations of Static Design

Figma is undoubtedly the gold standard for design collaboration, but as product complexity skyrockets, its shortcomings are becoming glaring:

• Static Prototypes Struggle to Simulate Real Interactions:
  Figma's prototyping is powerful, but loading delays, micro-interactions, and edge states (like error pages) often require manual mocks, failing to capture true runtime performance. This leads to frequent "slide handoff" issues between designers and developers, dragging out iteration cycles.
  
  
• Responsive Design is Tedious:
  Testing multi-device adaptations means creating multiple frames and manually tweaking constraints. Data-heavy interfaces (like dashboards) require hours of manual population, killing efficiency.
  
  
• High Collaboration Barriers:
  Designers output visual files, developers rewrite code—communication costs remain sky-high. Figma's Dev Mode helps, but it still can't bridge the gap between "design intent" and "production code."

These pain points are amplified in the AI era. Figma's 2025 report shows only 31% of designers are boldly using AI in core work, while Cursor embeds AI directly into the workflow, shifting design from "drawing" to "building."

Cursor's Appeal: 10x Faster Prototypes, Liberating Real Interactions

Why are designers flocking to Cursor? The answer lies in how it transforms design from a visual tool into a "living" code environment. Here are the core advantages, based on feedback from the designer community (like hot discussions on X):

1. Real-Time Behavior Simulation: Seeing the System "Come Alive"

In Cursor, every layout tweak or interaction is runnable code. You see the system respond instantly, rather than "faking" behaviors in Figma. Hardik Pandya emphasizes: "In Cursor, delays and loading states take just minutes to simulate because it's part of runtime." This lets designers intuitively grasp subtle user experience nuances, like animation physics and performance bottlenecks.

2. Responsive and State Management, Done in One Click

A single layout in Cursor auto-adapts to all screen sizes—just resize the window and see it. Compared to Figma's nested constraints, it's far more efficient. Even cooler, it generates empty states, success pages, or error pages from a shared logic base, ensuring comprehensive coverage. One designer shared on X: "With Cursor + Figma MCP, I validated pixel-perfect design in 10 minutes."

3. Instant Data and Content Injection

Forget placeholders! Cursor pulls real API data to fill in user names, product copy, or dynamic tables. For data-intensive interfaces like dashboards, a few lines of code generate variable data, outpacing Figma's manual copying. This boosts realism and makes prototypes easier to test for AI-driven probabilistic UX (like uncertain generated content).

4. Micro-Interactions and Library Integration: Production-Grade Polish

Animations, transitions, and delays can be fine-tuned in runtime, precisely matching production environments. Cursor one-click imports open-source libraries (like charts or date pickers) without redrawing components. In Figma, these need plugins or manual mockups; in Cursor, it's "assembly."

5. Collaboration Revolution: A Common Language for Designers and Engineers

Cursor blurs the design-dev boundary. Designers work in code, engineers build prototypes directly, cutting review loops. Inline docs (decision notes in comments) and auto-updating design tokens ensure consistency. X user Aakash Gupta notes: "Designers are shifting to Cursor, accelerating role fusion—designers code more, engineers PM more."

6. Iteration Speed and Scalability

Everything's "live": tweak, save, see. Branching new states takes seconds to clone; work can fork and remix for collaboration. Compared to Figma's export waits, Cursor matches thought speed, letting ideas flow freely.

These aren't empty claims. Cursor's chief designer Ryo Lu said in an interview that AI-native design is upending traditional paradigms, shifting from single interfaces to personalized systems. Another designer wrote on Medium: "Cursor has completely changed my life as a product designer."

Real Stories: Designers' Transformation Tales

• Hardik Pandya (Atlassian Design Lead):
  After switching to Cursor from Figma, he listed 18 advantages, including real-time micro-interactions and API integration. "I'm exclusively using Cursor for design now—I can't go back to the canvas era."
  
  
• X Community Feedback:
  One product designer shared building a production-grade site with Cursor + Claude + Figma MCP, no dev handoff needed. Another said: "Pro Cursor x Sonnet is the best combo for designers—finally building apps."
  
  
• Enterprise Applications:
  In startups, designers output deployable prototypes with Cursor, speeding from idea to MVP. Even big players like Atlassian are exploring this shift.

Of course, not everyone's fully on board. Some designers stick to Figma's visual intuitiveness, seeing Cursor as better for "vibe coding" than pure design. But the trend is clear: Cursor doesn't replace Figma—it extends it. Through integrations like MCP, they complement each other.

Future Outlook: Reshaping the Designer's Role

Switching to Cursor signals a leap in design from "executor" to "strategist." AI handles repetitive tasks, freeing designers for user research, emotional design, and innovation decisions. Predictions say by 2026, over 50% of prototypes will be AI-generated, blurring role boundaries: designers code, engineers design.

If you're a designer, try Cursor Pro (monthly sub, integrates Claude 3.5 Sonnet). Start with a simple prompt: import a Figma link, generate responsive components. You might find you can't go back to Figma's comfort zone.

The design world is accelerating change—Cursor isn't the end, but the beginning. Embrace it, and you'll evolve from designer to "full-stack builder."