Cursor launches its own code-hosting platform as GitHub racks up outages
The AI coding startup rolled out 'Origin' this week, giving developers a place to store and collaborate on code without relying solely on GitHub, which suffered a six-hour worldwide outage on the very same day.
Key points
- Cursor launched Origin, a new code-hosting platform, this week as a direct alternative to GitHub.
- GitHub suffered a six-hour worldwide outage on the same day Origin launched, with a nearly 20 percent error rate globally.
- GitHub has recorded 257 outages over the past year, according to an analysis by LeadDev.
- Origin lets developers keep their existing GitHub repositories and sync them across both platforms.
- GitHub counts roughly 180 million developers on its platform as of October 2024.
When a plumber is late, you call another plumber. Cursor, the AI coding startup, is betting that enough developers are frustrated with GitHub's recent reliability problems to try a new address.
Cursor launched Origin this week: a code-hosting platform that does the core things developers have relied on GitHub for since 2007. That means storing code in repositories (organised online folders where code lives), letting teams review and merge each other's edits, and browsing or changing files together in real time.
What is Cursor, and why is it doing this?
Cursor built its name selling an AI-powered code editor, software that helps developers write and fix code faster by suggesting completions and spotting errors automatically. Origin is a natural extension of that: once you are writing code in Cursor's editor, it makes sense to store it there too.
The company says it will add "agent native" features to Origin soon. An AI agent, in this context, means software that can carry out multi-step coding tasks on its own, not just assist a human typing. Cursor has not released details yet, but it is also building what it calls a wider "app ecosystem" around Origin to support larger coding projects.
Does this mean developers have to quit GitHub?
No. Origin is built to run alongside GitHub, not replace it overnight. Developers can sync their existing GitHub repositories directly into Origin, work in both places, and pass code back and forth between them.
"Your GitHub repos can sit alongside the ones Cursor hosts," the company wrote in its launch blog post. "Connect GitHub to Cursor, pick your org, and you'll see the repos you can sync."
That interoperability lowers the barrier to trying Origin considerably. There is no forced migration, no starting from scratch.
Why does GitHub's reliability matter here?
GitHub's wobbles have been hard to ignore. On the same day Origin launched, GitHub went down for over six hours with a nearly 20 percent error rate worldwide. That is a significant failure for a platform that developers depend on the way a shop owner depends on a working till.
It was not a one-off. GitHub has suffered 257 outages over the past year, first reported by TechCrunch AI, citing a LeadDev analysis. The pattern has driven what LeadDev describes as "a visible exodus of high-profile users."
Earlier this year, GitHub announced steps to address availability problems after a series of complaints from developers. The fixes have not fully calmed the frustration.
| Platform | Founded | Owner | Registered developers |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub | 2007 | Microsoft (since 2012) | ~180 million (Oct 2024) |
| Origin (Cursor) | 2025 | SpaceXAI | Not disclosed |
What happens next?
Cursor has a long road ahead. GitHub's 180 million users represent a decade and a half of habit, tooling, and institutional memory. Dislodging that is genuinely hard, even with a compelling product and a rival that keeps tripping over its own shoelaces.
But for developers already living inside Cursor's editor every day, Origin removes one more reason to open a browser tab somewhere else. Small friction reductions, compounded across millions of users, have toppled bigger incumbents before.
