Cursor vs Windsurf

Brand history (2026-05-13): Codeium retired its standalone product and codeium.com now 301-redirects to windsurf.com. Windsurf is the continuity path for everything Codeium users had: the same team, the same Cascade agent lineage, the same free tier, and the same plugin family for VS Code, JetBrains, and other IDEs. Treat “Windsurf” below as the canonical surface for what used to ship as Codeium.

Cursor and Windsurf compete directly as VS Code forks with AI autocomplete, inline editing, and multi-file agents. Cursor holds a larger user base and broader model access including Gemini 3.1 Pro, Claude Opus 4.7, and GPT-5.3 Codex; Windsurf offers lower pricing at $15/month Pro with 500 credits on premium models, and inherits the Codeium plugin footprint across 70+ IDEs.

Quick Answer

Choose Cursor for the most established AI IDE with extensive community support and model options. Opt for Windsurf if lower cost, a permanent free tier for basic completions, or continuity from a Codeium setup matters more.

Where Cursor Wins

• Largest adoption with $2 billion annual recurring revenue and integration into developer workflows.
• Access to top models like Gemini 3.1 Pro (2M token context) and Claude Opus 4.7 for agentic tasks.
• Supermaven autocomplete delivers fastest performance in tests.
• Broader VS Code extension compatibility and community resources.
• Background agents run tasks autonomously.

Where Windsurf Wins

• Pro plan at $15/month saves $60/year versus Cursor.
• Unlimited basic completions on free tier with no expiration.
• Cascade agent handles multi-file changes effectively.
• Built on Codeium’s full AI coding history; with codeium.com redirecting to windsurf.com, Windsurf is the supported home for former Codeium users.
• Fewer interruptions reported in autocomplete flow.

Codeium To Windsurf, In One Paragraph

Codeium and Windsurf are not competitors anymore: they are the same product line. Codeium started as an IDE-plugin AI coding assistant; the team then shipped Windsurf as a full VS Code-fork IDE on top of the same models and agent stack. In 2026 Codeium was retired as a brand, codeium.com was set to 301-redirect to windsurf.com, and the plugin family was rebranded under Windsurf. Existing Codeium accounts, settings, and team plans migrated to Windsurf. If you are doing due diligence on Codeium today, you should price and evaluate Windsurf instead. The cross-IDE plugin path still exists; the standalone Codeium brand does not.

Key Differences

Cursor emphasizes model diversity with direct support for Gemini 3.1 Pro (2 million token context, top benchmarks), Claude Opus 4.7, and GPT-5.3 Codex, enabling task-specific switching. Windsurf relies on Claude and GPT backends with 1 million token context, prioritizing cost efficiency and Cascade for linear agentic edits. Both index codebases deeply and support VS Code extensions, but Cursor’s Pro ($20/month, 500 fast requests) outpaces Windsurf’s ($15/month, 500 credits) in speed and frontier model access; Windsurf’s free tier stands out as viable long-term and is the path of least resistance for teams coming off Codeium.

Who should choose Cursor

Developers needing multiple frontier models like Gemini 3.1 Pro for large contexts or Claude Opus 4.7 for reasoning benefit from Cursor’s selection and polish. Teams value its community, tutorials, and $2 billion revenue-backed stability.

Who should choose Windsurf

Price-sensitive users save $60/year with comparable quality on everyday tasks. Those preferring a no-limit free tier for basic use, or who are migrating from a Codeium setup (since codeium.com now redirects to windsurf.com), find Windsurf the more direct path.

Bottom Line

Cursor leads in model access and maturity; Windsurf closes the gap at lower cost with a strong free tier and the only supported migration path off Codeium. Try Windsurf free first unless model variety or ecosystem drives your choice; switching from Cursor involves reconfiguring settings.