TRAE

TRAE is ByteDance's AI IDE. Rechecked 2026-08-17: trae.ai/pricing and docs.trae.ai/ide/new-plans-and-billing sell Free $0, Lite $3 / month, Pro $10 / month, Pro+ $30 / month, and Ultra $100 / month on the recurring monthly column. Usage is Dollar Usage / Basic Usage, not extra-fast request packs. The old page said "Pro Coming Soon" and "completely free." Those lines are stale.

Compare Cursor if you wanted Individual $20 / Pro $40, Kiro if you wanted AWS's GA $20 seat, and GitHub Copilot if you wanted the GitHub-native suite.

Key Features

• Standalone IDE plus plugins: Desktop app, plus VS Code and JetBrains plugins on the download / marketplace pages.
• TraeCode / TraeWork: The live site splits the product that way. Recheck the current mode names in-app.
• SOLO mode: The plans doc marks TraeCode SOLO on Pro and above. The Lite pricing card still says SOLO is included. Recheck in-app before you buy Lite for SOLO.
• Token billing: Docs convert model tokens into Dollar Usage and deduct from Basic Usage. Unused Basic Usage does not roll over.

Use Cases

• People who want a cheap paid IDE at $3 or $10 instead of Cursor's $20 / $40.
• Heavier agent users looking at Pro+ $30 or Ultra $100 for more Basic Usage.
• Teams already on VS Code or JetBrains that want a plugin, not a second editor.

Limitation: Extra-fast 50 / 600 / 3,000 request counts are gone. Single-month prices ($4.5 / $15 / $45 / $150) are higher than the recurring column. We did not re-verify "100+ languages" or anonymous tweets.

Pricing

docs.trae.ai/ide/new-plans-and-billing on 2026-08-17. Recurring monthly first.

After Basic Usage is gone, docs say enable On-Demand Usage, billed every $3 accumulated.

Getting Started

1. Download the desktop app from trae.ai/download, or install the VS Code / JetBrains plugin.
2. Stay on Free only long enough to see $3 Basic Usage burn.
3. Pay Lite $3 or Pro $10 before you assume Ultra $100 is required.
4. Recheck Cursor or Copilot if you already pay for an agent seat elsewhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Pro still coming soon?

No. The live table prints Lite $3, Pro $10, Pro+ $30, and Ultra $100.

Is TRAE still completely free?

There is a Free row with $3 Basic Usage and 5,000 autocompletes. Paid seats start at $3.

Same as Cursor?

Both are AI IDEs. Cursor's public seats are $20 / $40. TRAE's recurring paid rows are $3 / $10 / $30 / $100 on the page we opened.

Alternatives

• Cursor: Individual $20, Pro $40, plus Cloud Agents / Bugbot.
• Kiro: AWS IDE, GA Pro $20.
• GitHub Copilot: Completions and a cloud agent inside GitHub.

Tips

1. Quote $3 / $10 / $30 / $100 from the recurring column, plus Basic Usage $3 / $5 / $20 / $90 / $400.
2. Do not paste extra-fast request packs or "10x engineer" tweets into a deck.
3. Recheck plugin vs desktop before you tell a JetBrains shop to switch editors.

Conclusion

TRAE is a priced ByteDance AI IDE on dollar usage, not a forever-free Builder demo. Start at trae.ai/pricing, then decide whether Cursor or GitHub Copilot already covers the seat you need.