Cursor makes your developers faster in a code repository. A device needs more than code. It needs parts data, a schematic, a routed board, mechanical parts, simulation, and manufacturing files. In Flux, an AI hardware engineer does this work in one live project in the browser, and your engineers work in the same project.
Flux turns a hardware requirement into a connected device design. Its AI hardware engineer works across parts, circuits, board layout, mechanical design, and firmware in one browser project. Flux checks the design and provides manufacturing files.
Cursor is an AI code editor and coding agent. Developers use it to understand a codebase, plan and build features, fix bugs, and review changes.[1]
Cursor Agent edits files, runs terminal commands, and searches the codebase and the web. Cloud agents do the same work in isolated virtual machines and push the changes to your repository.[3]
Cursor Agent completes coding tasks on its own. It edits code, runs terminal commands, and controls a browser to test the result.[3]
Cloud agents run in isolated virtual machines with a full development environment. You can run many at the same time and start them from the web, Slack, GitHub, Linear, or the API.[4]
Project rules, team rules, and AGENTS.md files give the agent your instructions. MCP servers connect it to outside tools and data.[5]
Cursor reads and changes the files in a repository. To get a board from Cursor, you find a hardware tool that it can control, write scripts for that tool, and check each output yourself. Each outside tool also needs its own license or account. Flux starts with the hardware tools built in: a schematic and PCB editor, mechanical CAD, 734,000+ public parts with live distributor data, simulation, design rule checks, imports from other CAD and EDA tools, and manufacturing files. The AI hardware engineer uses these tools directly, so design work starts on the first prompt. Flux is model agnostic. It opens in a web browser and saves each project in the cloud.
| Feature | Flux | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements and specification | The AI engineer turns your idea into requirements and a product specification, and checks the design against them. | Writes plans and code from your prompt.[3] |
| What it is | AI hardware engineer with electronics and mechanical design tools | AI code editor and coding agent[1] |
| Where it runs | Runs in a browser. Projects stay in the cloud. | The Cursor desktop editor, the command line, and cloud agents that you start from the web, mobile, Slack, GitHub, or Linear[4] |
| Who does the design work | The Flux agent. Your engineers review and edit. | Developers give the agent software tasks.[1] |
| Schematic and parts | Built in, with 734,000+ public parts | Not built in. You connect outside tools and part data with scripts.[1] |
| Board layout and routing | Board layout and routing are part of the project | Not built in. You connect an outside board tool with scripts.[1] |
| Placement and routing | The AI engineer places the parts and routes the board like an experienced designer. Your engineers review and edit. | No built-in PCB trace-routing tools.[1] |
| High-speed design | The AI engineer plans DDR topology and timing budgets, routes differential pairs and length-matched buses, tunes length and skew, fans out BGAs with blind, buried, and microvias, and sets trace impedance from your stackup. It checks the routed board with S-parameters, TDR, eye diagrams, crosstalk analysis, and a signal integrity, power integrity, and EMC review. Your engineers review and edit. | No built-in PCB signal-integrity analysis.[1] |
| Parts and sourcing | 734,000+ public parts, with live prices and stock from distributors | No built-in electronics parts library.[1] |
| Simulation and design rule checks | Circuit, power and signal integrity, electromagnetic, thermal, and mechanical simulation. Flux also checks design rules. | Not built in. You connect outside simulators with scripts.[1] |
| Firmware | Writes firmware for the designed board | Writes code, including firmware[1] |
| Wiring harnesses | Built in. Flux designs the wiring harnesses between the boards: connectors, pinouts, and wires, in the same project. | No built-in wire-harness design tools.[1] |
| Manufacturing files | Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, bill of materials, pick-and-place, and other manufacturing files. Flux checks copper gaps, silkscreen, board outlines, bills of materials, and pick-and-place files. | Not built in. Your scripts or outside tools write the files.[1] |
| Quotes and orders | Quotes and orders for boards, 3D printing, CNC machining, and wire harnesses, from the project. | No built-in hardware quoting or ordering workflow.[1] |
| Import from other tools | Imports complete projects from Altium, OrCAD and Allegro, KiCad, PADS and Xpedition, CADSTAR, Eagle, Fusion Electronics, EasyEDA, DipTrace, and SOLIDWORKS PCB. Flux imports Labcenter Proteus SDF netlists with Specctra board exports. IPC-2581 revision B and C files become board projects with reusable footprint parts. IDF 2.0 and 3.0 board files become board projects with the outline, cutouts, drilled and mounting holes, part placements, and 3D part heights. | No built-in EDA project importer.[1] |
| Versions, branches, and merges | Full change history. The AI engineer forks a design into a second version, keeps both, and merges the changes that you pick. | No native hardware design version history.[1] |
| Who reviews the work | Engineers and reviewers work in the same live project across electronics, mechanics, and firmware | Developers review the code changes and pull requests[4] |
| Product images, videos, and documents | Product images, product videos, datasheets, and regulatory documents, made from the design in the project. | Writes documentation and code, and generates images from text[3] |
| Mechanical CAD | Mechanical design stays connected to the board | Not built in. You connect an outside CAD kernel with scripts.[1] |
| Mechanical simulation | Finite-element stress, thermal, and airflow simulation | No mechanical simulation workspace.[1] |
| Mechanical manufacturing | STEP, STL, and 3MF files, plus quotes for 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal, and laser cutting | No CNC manufacturing workspace.[1] |
| CNC toolpaths and G-code | The AI engineer writes the toolpaths, the G-code, a toolpath preview, and a setup sheet for the parts that it designed. | No CNC toolpath or G-code workflow.[1] |
| AI models | Frontier models from several providers, including Claude and OpenAI | Cursor models and frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and other providers[2] |
| Tool licenses | No extra tool licenses to buy. The editor, mechanical CAD, parts data, simulation, and manufacturing outputs come with your Flux plan. | Each outside tool needs its own license or account, for example a Fusion 360 license[7] |
| Team knowledge and rules | Teams can record design rules and preferred parts once. Flux applies that guidance across projects. | Project rules, team rules, and AGENTS.md files[5] |
| Parallel work | One AI hardware engineer keeps related design work in a shared project and shows its progress to the team. | Many cloud agents at the same time, each in its own virtual machine[4] |
Orchestration
Give Flux a product requirement. The board, enclosure, and firmware stay linked while your team reviews the work.
Flux keeps the electrical and mechanical work tied to the same design goal.
Teams can progress on the board and physical parts in the same Flux project.
Inspect the project and its status from one live workspace.
Comments, revisions, and design context stay available to the team.
Keep the board outline, mounting holes, connectors, and enclosure openings in one project. Engineers can review the electrical and mechanical design together.
Built for teams
Engineers and reviewers can work in Flux from a browser and share the same design.
Keep designs, revisions, and comments in one cloud workspace.
Keep team parts, design rules, and past decisions with the project.
Review the AI hardware engineer's work and continue from a teammate's project.
Open a project link and work without installing local CAD software.
Speak with the AI hardware engineer from a computer or phone.
Customizable
Give Flux your design guidance and connect the services your team uses.
Record design guidance and approved parts for the team to use across projects.
Set layout requirements and fabricator limits, then check designs against them.
Connect existing tools to Flux with MCP servers and web APIs.
Admins can manage organization API keys without exposing them to the AI hardware engineer.
Create a live page for a power budget, bring-up checklist, or 3D assembly.
Connect Cursor or another MCP-compatible agent to read and modify Flux projects and assign design work to Flux.
Connect the services your team already uses.
Onshape 
Autodesk Fusion 
PTC Windchill 
Siemens Teamcenter 
Arena PLM 
OpenBOM 
Duro 
GitHub 
GitLab 
Memfault 
Golioth 
Particle 
Nordic nRF Cloud 
Edge Impulse 
NI SystemLink 
SimScale 
Octopart 
SiliconExpert Keep electronics, mechanical parts, and firmware together in one project.
Open a project in a browser. Your team can review the current design without installing CAD software.
Circuit and board editors, mechanical CAD, simulations, checks, imports, and manufacturing outputs are part of Flux.
Flux includes 734,000+ public parts and live distributor price and stock information.
Use simulation, design rule checks, and datasheet verification before engineers review the design.
Engineers and reviewers share the same live project with organization and project access controls.
Model-agnostic AI
Flux does not lock you into one AI lab. It runs Claude, OpenAI, and other frontier models. Adaptive model selection matches each engineering task with the lowest-cost model that can do it well, so you get frontier-level results at a lower cost.
Flux selects a model for each engineering task with capability and cost in view. Your team works with one AI hardware engineer in the same project.
Use frontier models from multiple providers in the Flux workspace.
Models work with Flux project context, design tools, and standard hardware workflows.
Your team can use updated models without moving projects to a different design environment.
Flux works with models from multiple providers, so projects do not depend on one model vendor.
Adaptive model selection considers capability and cost for each engineering task.
One platform
Flux carries a hardware requirement through electrical and mechanical design in one project.
Select parts, create schematics, and simulate circuits from the product requirement.
Place and route components, define board layers, and check design rules.
Create enclosures, brackets, and mounts that fit board holes and connectors. Import STEP models and use shared parts data for chips, screws, and standoffs.
Write firmware for the board, then build, analyze, and unit test it.
Source parts, request fabrication quotes, and prepare files for boards, assemblies, and cables.
Verification lab
Flux checks designs with engineering simulation and design rules before it provides manufacturing files.
Run SPICE analysis for analog, power, and mixed-signal circuits.
Analyze impedance, S-parameters, crosstalk, and antenna behavior on routed boards.
Study heat and airflow around boards and inside enclosures.
Analyze airflow and cooling in an enclosure before a prototype is built.
Check stress in brackets, enclosures, and mounting parts.
Check schematics and boards against electrical and manufacturing rules.
Check part choices against datasheet pinouts, ratings, and operating limits.
Sourcing
Flux checks live distributor data and supports parts selection for electronics and mechanical design.
Digi-Key 
LCSC 
Mouser 
Arrow 
Verical 
TME 
HQonline 
McMaster-Carr 
MISUMI 
JLCMC Manufacturing
Request live quotes for board fabrication, assembly, cables, and mechanical processes as the design changes.
JLCPCB 
PCBWay 
OSH Park 
AISLER 
Craftcloud JLC 3D printing PCBWay 3D printing 
Shapeways 
OSH Cut 
SendCutSend 
MiniProto You do not have to choose. Cursor connects to MCP servers, and Flux has one. From Cursor, your developers can read and edit Flux projects and give design tasks to the Flux AI engineer. Your developers keep Cursor for the software, and the hardware work goes to Flux.[8]
See current pricing
Trial terms depend on your current offer.
See current pricing
Trial terms depend on your current offer.
See current pricing
Trial terms depend on your current offer.
See current pricing
Teams subscriptions start paid.
Eligible individual plans include a free trial. Teams subscriptions start paid; trial and pricing terms depend on your current offer. See all plans
Use Cursor to write and change software in your code repositories. Use Flux when the deliverable is a board, its mechanical parts, and its firmware, ready to manufacture.
Review plan options for your team or schedule a demo with Flux.
