Borel vs Cursor for iPhone apps
A coding agent for developers, or an app builder that runs your iPhone app without a Mac.
Cursor is an AI coding agent for developers; for an iPhone app you still build and run it in Xcode on a Mac. Borel is an app builder: describe the app in a chat, and Borel writes native SwiftUI, compiles it on its own Mac and runs it in the iOS Simulator in your browser, from $20 a month.
Borel
Cursor
What it is
Build and run an iPhone app without a Mac
iOS Simulator
Free plan
Why Borel
Describe the app in plain words. Borel writes the Swift and Xcode builds it on Borel's Mac.
Every build runs in the iOS Simulator in your browser, from Windows too.
Publish to the App Store from the browser on Pro.
Native iPhone features, built in
- SwiftUI, with Liquid Glass
- Face ID
- Reminders and notifications
- Camera and scanning
- Location and Apple Maps
- AI chat
- Accounts, data and files
- Photo library
- Pictures from words
- Haptics
- Steps and motion
- Subscriptions and purchases
- Voice and speech
- Calendar
- Contacts
Choose Borel if
- You don't have a Mac, or don't want to learn Xcode.
- You'd rather describe the app than write and review code.
- You want App Store publishing done for you.
What Borel costs
Free
5 credits a day, up to 30 a month
Pro
From $20 a month, or $16 a month, billed yearly
iOS Simulator
Free for everyone
Borel and Cursor: questions
Cursor can write the Swift, and its own guide says to switch to Xcode on your Mac to build and run the app. Borel does both in one place: it writes SwiftUI, compiles it with Xcode on Borel's Mac and opens it in the iOS Simulator in your browser.
Not with Borel. Xcode and the iOS Simulator run on Borel's Mac, and you work in a browser on Windows or a Mac. Borel Companion, for Windows and Mac, installs the app on your iPhone on Pro.
No. You describe the app in plain words and ask for changes the same way. A coding agent like Cursor is made for people who read and steer the code themselves, inside their own project.
Yes. Download the SwiftUI project on any plan, with an XcodeGen project.yml, and open it in Xcode or any editor you like, Cursor included. The code is standard Swift.
Yes. Borel builds your SwiftUI app and submits it to Apple from the browser on Pro, from $20 a month. Apple asks for its paid Developer Program for every App Store app, and the app you submit is the one you tested.
Yes. AI, data, sign-in and storage are built into every Borel app, with no keys to paste or services to set up. Describe a feature, such as accounts or saved notes, and Borel wires it into your SwiftUI app.
Try it with your own idea
Describe the app you want and see its first screens before you pay anything.
See your app free