Cursor vs Windsurf
Cursor from Anysphere goes head-to-head with Windsurf from Codeium. We compare on pricing, features, speed, and the situations where each one actually wins. No referral fees. No paid placements. Just the trade-offs.
| Cursor ↗ | Windsurf ↗ | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Anysphere | Codeium |
| Category | AI code editor | AI code editor |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Pro plan | $20/mo | $15/mo |
| Team plan | $40/mo | $35/mo |
| Underlying models | GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 4 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Pro, custom | GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Cascade (custom) |
| Code-eval score (out of 100) | 92 | 88 |
| Speed | Fast | Fast |
| Best for | Daily-driver IDE for individual devs and small teams who want VS Code with stronger AI | Devs who want Cursor-like agentic flows at a slightly lower price |
| Weakness | Pricing tiers can get expensive at team scale; usage limits surprise heavy users | Smaller community and plugin ecosystem than Cursor |
Quick verdict
- Cheaper: Windsurf at $15/mo for the Pro tier.
- Better at coding tasks: Cursor (92/100 on our code-eval rubric).
- Pick Cursor if: Daily-driver IDE for individual devs and small teams who want VS Code with stronger AI.
- Pick Windsurf if: Devs who want Cursor-like agentic flows at a slightly lower price.
Where Cursor pulls ahead
Cursor is built for: Daily-driver IDE for individual devs and small teams who want VS Code with stronger AI. If that matches your day-to-day, the $20/mo Pro tier is well-spent. The most common reason teams stay on Cursor after a trial: Pricing tiers can get expensive at team scale; usage limits surprise heavy users is a manageable trade-off given how strong the core experience is.
Where Windsurf pulls ahead
Windsurf excels at: Devs who want Cursor-like agentic flows at a slightly lower price. Strongest case to switch from Cursor to Windsurf: when you outgrow what Cursor optimizes for and start running into Pricing tiers can get expensive at team scale; usage limits surprise heavy users. Windsurf's own limitation — Smaller community and plugin ecosystem than Cursor — matters less in those workflows.
Bottom line
For most readers, the right answer is the cheaper, more familiar one — until your workflow specifically asks for something the other handles better. Try the free tier of each (both offer one), spend an afternoon on a real task in each, then commit to whichever felt less in your way.
More comparisons
Methodology: see how we score. Tool names are trademarks of their respective owners. We are not affiliated with Anysphere or Codeium.