Introduction

Since late last year, I’ve been incorporating Cursor and Claude Code into my daily work. However, I had never taken on a freelance project with them before, fearing they might not be reliable enough.

This Monday, an old friend approached me. He runs a small design studio in the west of the city and wanted to revamp his outdated website. The requirements were simple: it should look good, allow content changes, and be mobile-friendly.

Budget: 3000 Yuan

Delivery time: One week

I hesitated for three seconds but decided to take it on. The reason was straightforward: I wanted to see how much time I could save with AI assistance and whether it could really be used for freelance work.

Conclusion

For those who want to skip the details, here are the key points:

Total time spent: About 22 hours (normally requires 40+ hours)

Net earnings: 2700 Yuan (after platform fees)

Time saved by AI tools: Approximately 40%

Conclusion: It’s feasible to take on projects, but don’t set your expectations too high.

Day 1 Afternoon: Setting Up with Cursor

On Monday afternoon, I started by using Cursor to set up the project framework. I used Cursor’s Composer mode and input the prompt: “Help me initialize a Vue3 + Vite project with Tailwind CSS, including a homepage, about us, case display, and contact page.”

In 30 seconds, the framework was ready. Honestly, I found Cursor’s experience better than Claude Code for this step—it directly manipulates files, creating them in the file tree, giving a solid feeling of “actually writing code.” Claude Code feels more like conversing with a highly capable assistant, but you still have to copy and paste the code yourself.

I laid out the homepage structure using Cursor. The header, hero section, service introduction, and client case carousel—Cursor, combined with the Boilerplate plugin, completed about 80% in 2 hours.

Day 1 Insight: Cursor is indeed fast for building the foundation, but as I progressed, I encountered bottlenecks with adjustments. For instance, when adding a click-to-zoom feature for the case carousel, I went through three versions, each introducing new issues, leading to a cycle of minor fixes.

Days 2 to 4: Claude Code to the Rescue

What truly impressed me was on Wednesday night. The client suddenly requested a news feature for the website, allowing article publishing, category filtering, and backend management. This meant I had to add a CMS.

I prompted Claude Code with:

“The project structure is as follows… I need to add a news module that can publish, edit, and delete articles in the backend, displaying them by category on independent pages. The article data can be stored in a local JSON file without needing a database.”

Claude responded with about 200 lines of code, covering the module’s routing, pages, components, and API layer.

I reviewed the code piece by piece—no hallucinations, no hardcoded fake interfaces, and every function had real logic. I only adjusted two style inconsistencies and ran it directly.

At that moment, I truly felt that this tool could serve as half an engineer.

On Thursday afternoon, I deployed the entire project to Vercel for the client to review. After refreshing the page, he paused for two seconds and said something that surprised me:

“It looks much better than I expected.”

About Earnings: Did I Gain or Lose?

Let’s break down the numbers:

Project Quote: 3000 Yuan

Platform Fee: Approximately 300 Yuan (10% platform fee from a friend’s referral)

Net Earnings: 2700 Yuan

Time Costs:

• Normal time for a single person to complete: about 40 hours
• With AI assistance: about 22 hours
• Saved: 18 hours (about 45%)

Calculating the hourly rate: 2700 ÷ 22 ≈ 123 Yuan/hour.

Without AI, working manually for 40 hours would yield an hourly rate of just 67.5 Yuan.

Of course, this was a friendly price. For unfamiliar clients, I recommend quoting no less than 5000 Yuan, as AI can help compress the time to under 25 hours, allowing for a higher hourly rate.

Choosing Between Cursor and Claude Code

This is the most frequently asked question. My genuine feeling is:

When to use Cursor:

• Starting from scratch to set up a project framework
• Need to see results while writing
• Collaborating with others or sharing sessions

When to use Claude Code:

• Designing complex logic or entire features
• Code review and bug finding
• Writing documentation and test cases
• Stuck and unsure how to proceed

Combined Workflow:

Cursor for foundation → Claude Code for complex modules → Cursor for finishing styles and details

This is the way to maximize efficiency, rather than choosing one or the other.

Advice: Don’t Mythologize AI in Freelance Work

While I’ve shared many positive aspects, it’s important to address some downsides. AI tools can save time, but they cannot replace communication with clients. The news module requirement was clarified only after the client gestured for a long time on video—something AI cannot assist with; you must understand the business yourself.

Additionally, leave enough buffer time for deliverables. AI-generated code can occasionally have minor issues. Before delivering on Thursday night, I self-tested and found two style bugs that were generated by AI and then modified by me. If you’re unsure about your code quality, allocate extra time for testing before delivery.

Finally, don’t use AI just for the sake of using it. Some tasks might be faster when done manually, so don’t get stuck in a narrow mindset.

Conclusion

After completing this project, I reflected on the potential of this work.

AI tools have significantly lowered the barrier for a single person to handle full-stack projects. In the past, if you didn’t know backend development, you might hesitate to take on projects involving backend management; now, as long as you can articulate the requirements, Claude Code can help you write the necessary code.

However, a lower barrier doesn’t mean lower competition. More people will learn to use AI, and ultimately it will come down to who understands the requirements better, who delivers more consistently, and who communicates more reliably with clients.

For this 3000 Yuan freelance job, I didn’t lose out. But it wasn’t as exaggerated as the notion that “AI lets you earn money effortlessly.” It’s more like a good shovel—you need to know where to dig.