Windsurf vs Cursor

Tagline

The world's most advanced AI coding assistant for developers and enterprises.

The AI-first code editor built for pair-programming

Category

Pricing

Rating

Platforms

API

Open source

Description

Windsurf Editor is an AI-native IDE designed to keep developers in flow. It functions as a powerful AI coding assistant equipped with Cascade and offers JetBrains integration to support developers, enterprises, and government agencies.

Cursor is a VS Code fork with deep AI integration for autocomplete, chat, and multi-file edits.

Key features

• AI-native IDE
• Cascade coding assistant
• Jetbrains IDE integration plugin
• Individual free tier
• Enterprise specialized solutions
• Windsurf for Government edition

• Contract inference
• Snapshot & property tests
• CI PR bot
• Coverage deltas

Pros

• Offers a completely free tier of service for individual developers.
• Integrates an AI-native IDE designed to optimize developer workflow and keep them in flow.
• Provides a specialized JetBrains plugin to work directly within preferred developer environments.
• Includes 'Cascade', a feature tailored to assist in advanced AI development functions.
• Provides customizable enterprise-grade offerings upon reaching out to their sales team.
• Supports a dedicated edition tailored specifically for governmental security and deployment regulations.
• Maintains a transparent and accessible product updates log through their official Changelog.
• Features an active blog that provides product insights, changelogs, and competitive benchmarks.

• Deep GPT-4 and Claude integration
• VS Code compatibility and extensions
• Multi-file edits with Composer
• Codebase-wide chat and context
• Predictive Cursor Tab autocomplete
• Per-project custom rules
• Fast iteration on refactors
• Frequent product updates

Cons

• Multiple subscription and plan detail pages returned 'This page does not exist' during our analysis.
• No public developer API or documentation details were explicitly mentioned on the main pages.
• The site does not reference open-source licenses or public repository access for the IDE core.
• Specific transparent pricing structures for non-enterprise teams are not explicitly disclosed on the plan pages.
• No explicit support listings or downloads for localized mobile applications are mentioned in the active links.

• Subscription cost adds up fast
• Context window can hit limits
• Requires internet connectivity
• Code is sent to third-party LLMs
• Autocomplete can be over-eager
• Slower than a plain local IDE
• Only VS Code ecosystem
• Rate limits on free plan

Pricing plans

• HobbyUSD0
  • • No credit card required
  • • Limited Agent requests
  • • Limited Tab completions
• IndividualUSD20/month
  • • Everything in Hobby, plus:
  • • Access to frontier models
  • • MCPs, skills, and hooks
  • • Cloud agents
• TeamsUSD40/month
  • • Everything on Individual, plus:
  • • Centralized team billing and administration
  • • Team marketplace for internal rules, skills, and plugins
  • • Team-wide privacy mode
• Enterprise—
  • • Everything on Teams, plus:
  • • SAML/OIDC SSO
  • • Pooled usage

Website