Claude Code vs Cursor: Who is the Strongest Worker for jQuery to React Migration?

The reason for this is quite simple—I wanted to migrate the table filtering logic from an old jQuery project to React. The code wasn't complicated, but manually translating it was always a hassle. Some friends said Cursor could handle most of the refactoring, while others recommended Claude Code for more stable code writing. So I thought I'd try both, and I happened to have a clawdfree link a friend shared, claiming I could use Claude Code via a relay API without a subscription.

And so it began.

Same task, run through both

The task I chose was: convert a ~200-line jQuery table search + sort logic into a React functional component with TypeScript. The requirements were very clear, with no ambiguous business pitfalls, making it suitable for comparing the translation quality of the two tools.

First, I opened the project in Cursor, pressed Ctrl+K, and entered the prompt: “Rewrite this jQuery code into React + TypeScript, keeping the functionality unchanged.” Cursor uses a mix of Claude and GPT models, defaulting to its fast mode. The output came quickly, and the code ran, but there were two issues: first, it directly mapped jQuery's hide()/show() to style.display toggles, without using a filter() approach to manage state; second, the output was a single large file without splitting into subcomponents. It worked, but had that “AI-generated” feel—logic was correct, but not like something a human would write.

Experience running Claude Code via clawdfree

Then I opened the clawdfree channel, configured the relay API address as instructed. Honestly, I hadn't subscribed to Claude before because I felt the monthly fee was expensive and not worth it just for coding features. After entering the API key in clawdfree, I could directly use Claude Code v2.1.88, with an interface identical to the official client.

I gave the same jQuery code and a nearly identical prompt, but Claude Code did something that surprised me: before translating, it asked, “Is this table data coming from props or internal state?” After I replied “from props”, the generated component automatically split the sorting and filtering logic into two custom hooks, and extracted the table render part into a separate subcomponent. The code structure was clearly more like what I'd see in a real PR.

Moreover, because it went through the clawdfree relay, the latency was much lower than I expected—about 200ms on Shanghai Telecom, which wasn't sluggish.

Several concrete differences

Both results passed tests and retained all functionality. But a few differences are worth noting:

• Code style tendency: Cursor tends to produce “it works” code, while Claude Code goes an extra step—like automatically adding type guards, extracting magic numbers into constants. For refactoring tasks, this saves a lot of review time.
• Context utilization: Cursor is strong with in-file completion but weak at cross-file analysis. Claude Code proactively checks whether existing hooks or utility functions exist in the project and reuses them. This time it found my project had useDebounce and directly used it.
• Trial barrier: Cursor's free version has completion limits; heavy usage requires upgrading to Pro within a few days. Claude Code's official plan costs $20/month. However, clawdfree claude code uses a relay API with pay-as-you-go pricing. For low-frequency users, a few dollars can cover it, without worrying about canceling a subscription.

How to decide which tool to use

My current habit is: when writing new code, doing completions, or tweaking styles, I open Cursor because it's fast and deeply integrated with the editor. But when I need to understand project structure, do cross-file refactoring, or write complex logic, I switch to clawdfree to open Claude Code. Especially for tasks like this jQuery migration, Claude Code's code quality is noticeably closer to what a colleague would produce.

If you only occasionally modify a few functions, Cursor's free version is enough. But if you frequently do migrations, refactoring, or write components with state management, spending a few dollars via the relay API to use Claude Code is far more cost-effective than a fixed monthly subscription. Plus, you don't have to stress about “whether to cancel the subscription”—just pay per use.