Cursor vs Windsurf

Side-by-side comparison of Cursor and Windsurf: pricing, features, API access, and community ratings.

AI comparison summary

TL;DR: Both are AI-powered code editors for developers, but Cursor emphasizes cloud-based parallel agents and enterprise security certifications, while Windsurf focuses on multi-agent orchestration with a visual Kanban interface and unique "Supercomplete" predictive coding. Windsurf offers API access and free access to their SWE-2 model, whereas Cursor highlights privacy mode and broader integration options (CLI/Slack). Choose Cursor for enterprise compliance needs or Windsurf for coordinating multiple AI agents with advanced code prediction.

Cursor
Cursor

AI-first code editor built on VS Code — full codebase context, not just the open file.

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Windsurf
Windsurf

Agentic AI code editor from Codeium — Cascade agent handles multi-file tasks end to end.

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Category
Coding & development
Coding & development
Pricing
Freemium
Freemium
Starting price
USD 20/mo
USD 20/mo
Free tier
Audience
Technical
Technical
API available
Open source
Self-hostable
Model provider
Anthropic / OpenAI
Multiple providers: OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), SpaceXAI, plus leading open source models, and Cognition's own SWE-2
Founded
2022
2024
Headquarters
San Francisco, US
Mountain View, US
Key strengths
  • ·Agentic coding (autonomous agents that plan, build, test, and demo features)
  • ·Multi-model support (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Grok, Cursor models)
  • ·IDE integration with AI-powered code completion and editing
  • ·Cloud agents running in parallel on ambitious tasks
  • ·AI-powered IDE with agent management (Devin Desktop / Spaces)
  • ·Multi-agent orchestration and Kanban view
  • ·Supercomplete next-thought code prediction
  • ·Fast Context for instant codebase search