Cursor vs Windsurf
Complete comparison guide to help you choose the right coding tool for your needs.
The Winner
Cursor
Wins for overall value, user satisfaction, and Multi-file code generation and refactoring.
Quick Comparison
Feature Breakdown
Feature Comparison
Cursor 
Windsurf Cursor
- Composer Is 4x Faster Than GPT-5
- 8 Parallel Agents Change The Game
- Tab Completion That Actually Helps
- Zero Switching Cost From VS Code
- Ultra Tier Is Expensive For Individuals
- High Memory Consumption
- Buggy After Updates
Windsurf
- 25% Cheaper Than Cursor
- Generous Free Tier
- SWE-1.5 Speed Advantage
- BYOK Support
- Relatively New, Some Bugs Reported
- Limited JetBrains Integration
- Sparse Documentation
Cursor Overview
If you're serious about AI-assisted development, Cursor is worth every penny. The Pro tier ($20/month) pays for itself if you code more than 5 hours weekly. The Ultra tier ($200/month) is for heavy users who max out API credits. The free Hobby tier gives you a genuine one-week Pro trial to test the full power.
Best For:
- Multi-file code generation and refactoring
- Complex full-stack application development
- Teams wanting cutting-edge AI capabilities
- Developers familiar with VS Code interface
- Projects requiring deep codebase understanding
- Rapid prototyping and fast iteration
- Parallel agent workflows for complex tasks
Windsurf Overview
Windsurf is the best budget-friendly AI code editor with premium model access. The Free tier gives you unlimited autocomplete and 25 credits for premium models-enough for casual coding. Pro at $15/month is 25% cheaper than Cursor with comparable features. The Cascade AI flows handle multi-file tasks that other free editors can't touch.
Best For:
- Budget-friendly AI coding with free tier
- Teams wanting lower-cost alternative to Cursor with similar features
- Engineers working on large codebases requiring deep context awareness
- Beginners needing intuitive AI assistance with automatic context detection
- Budget-conscious organizations maximizing ROI on AI coding tools
Our Verdict
Cursor is our top pick for most users, thanks to its higher user ratings. However, Windsurf remains a solid choice if you need Budget-friendly AI coding with free tier.
Try Cursor Free