Replit’s Amjad Masad on the Cursor deal, fighting Apple, and why he’d rather not sell

Amid industry speculation fueled by reports of competitor Cursor's potential acquisition by SpaceX, Replit CEO Amjad Masad affirmed his goal for the company to remain independent. Speaking at a TechCrunch event, Masad highlighted Replit's dramatic growth, which has accelerated over the past 18 months toward what he describes as a billion-dollar annual run rate. This contrasts sharply with the struggles of other AI startups, setting the stage for a debate on the long-term viability of independent AI development platforms.

Masad argues that Replit's path to sustainability is paved by strong business fundamentals and a differentiated, full-stack platform. He contrasted his company's positive gross margins, held for over a year, with Cursor's reported negative 23% margin. This financial health is supported by a platform strategy focused on non-technical users, enabling them to build and deploy secure applications without deep infrastructure knowledge. The model has resulted in extremely low churn and impressive expansion from existing customers.

Replit's Business & Platform Metrics

• Net Revenue Retention: Reaching as high as 300% in some cases.
• Gross Margins: Consistently positive for over a year.
• Security Model: Full-stack architecture with isolated projects on Google Cloud, inheriting its security posture.
• Foundation Models: Utilizes a multi-provider strategy, leveraging Anthropic for agentic tasks, Google for price-performance, and OpenAI's GPT models.

The company's independent stance extends to its contentious relationship with Apple, with Masad accusing the tech giant of lying about its reasons for blocking Replit's app updates and expressing a willingness to take the fight to court. This conflict, which Masad believes stems from Apple feeling threatened by Replit's ability to create iOS apps, underscores the broader market challenge for platforms that empower a new generation of software creators. By fostering an ecosystem where users are building multi-million dollar businesses like Magic School, Replit is positioning itself not just as a tool, but as a foundational platform for a new wave of entrepreneurship.

In a market where thin, cash-burning AI wrappers face pressure to sell, Replit’s focus on a full-stack platform with positive gross margins presents a durable model for achieving long-term independence and ecosystem leadership.