Cursor
by Anysphere
A fork of VS Code rebuilt around AI. Best agent mode in the category. Uses Claude, GPT, and Cursor's own small model. Free tier generous.
Free / $20+
Two VS Code forks. One winner.
Cursor vs Windsurf
VS
Windsurf
by Codeium
Windsurf by Codeium is a VS Code fork with a deep codebase index and an agent called Cascade. Competes directly with Cursor. Free tier is generous — no credit card required.
Free / $15+
Head-to-head
| Feature | Cursor | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Anysphere | Codeium |
| Category | Coding Assistants | Coding Assistants |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | Free / $20/mo | Free / $15/mo |
| Strengths | best-in-class agent mode, tab completion, codebase awareness | generous free tier, Cascade agent mode, codebase indexing |
| Weaknesses | expensive for heavy users, separate from your main editor | smaller model selection than Cursor, less polished tab completion |
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