Void is an open source AI code editor. We let developers use Cursor-style AI features without sacrificing privacy.
The open source Cursor alternative
Title: Void: The open source Cursor alternative | Y Combinator

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### The open source Cursor alternative

Void is an open source AI code editor. We let developers use Cursor-style AI features, without having to send their code to Cursor’s API.



Void

Founded:2024

Team Size:2

Location:San Francisco

### Active Founders

### Andrew Pareles, Founder

Andrew is the CEO of Void. Before starting Void, he bootstrapped an edtech company, did quantum computing research @ Johns Hopkins APL, and studied computer science @ Cornell.



### Mathew Pareles, Founder

Mathew is the CTO of Void, the open-source AI code editor. He studied physics @ Cornell and has been hacking with machine learning models like GPT-3 before they were popular. Before starting Void, he co-founded DeriveIt, an edtech startup that grew to thousands of users.



### Company Launches

[### Void: The open source Cursor alternative](

**_TL;DR:_** [Void]( is the open source Cursor alternative. It offers the AI features of an editor like Cursor, while allowing you to host your own AI model locally and keep your data private. Check us out on [GitHub](



About us
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Hi everyone, we’re [Mat]( and [Andrew]( and we’re the team behind Void. Mat’s been prompting Transformers since before GPT3 became mainstream, and Andrew did quantum computing research at JHU APL. We’re best friends who have been programming together since we were 8.



_left to right: Mat (CTO), Andrew (CEO)_

❌ The problem: the leading AI IDE is closed source
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Cursor is a closed-source AI editor, which means you need to send your private data through Cursor’s backend every time you use it. This leads to obvious privacy concerns. It’s also expensive for developers, and it means one individual has full control over a powerful AI model.

We think the future of AI should be open. You should be able to use whatever model you like and not be locked into using a privatized commercial one that’s built to collect your data.

✅ The solution: open source
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The solution: create an open-source Cursor alternative. This way, you can choose to self-host or communicate directly with any model you like, anywhere you like.

There are lots of benefits to open-sourcing besides privacy, too: on Void, you can access community-made AI features beyond the ones that Cursor offers, and gain full access to all your prompts.

Key features
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We’re building a lot. Here are the features we’re most excited about:

*   **File system awareness:** Void can answer questions about your entire codebase. It builds an index of all your files and uses it automatically, so you don’t manually select relevant files.
*   **View and edit underlying prompts:** Void lets you open up the hood and view/edit every single prompt in your chat history. This is really important if you want to understand how the LLM got its answer, and it’s lacking in most closed-source tools.
*   **Fast edits across 1000s of lines:** Even if your file is thousands of lines long, Void applies changes almost instantly. We prompt the AI to make changes the way a human would instead of rewriting the whole file.



*   **Full privacy / data control:** All of Void’s prompt-building is done on your own computer. This means you can self-host your own model and have your data never leave your network. Or, you can connect directly to Claude, GPT, or Gemini, and not worry about sending your company data through a middle layer of communication.

We think the future of AI is open, and we’re excited about building it.

**🙏 Asks**
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*   Check out the [**Void editor**]( and star us on GitHub!
*   If you’re interested in helping us build, join our [Discord]( or shoot us an email. We rely on contributions, even small ones, and we’ll help you get up and running as a contributor!
*   Please share this post! Help spread the word that we’re building an open source Cursor alternative.

#### YC Sign Photo


