Cursor is a VS Code-based AI coding assistant emphasizing autocomplete and inline suggestions with deterministic control features, while Windsurf is Codeium's agentic IDE offering autonomous planning and agent workflows. Both are market leaders as of 2026, with Windsurf reaching 1M+ users and Cursor maintaining strong enterprise adoption.
Cursor vs Windsurf — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
AI-first code editor built on VS Code with native AI integration and multi-model support.
AI-native IDE built by Codeium with integrated Claude 3.5 Sonnet for code generation and editing.
Base Architecture. Agent Capabilities. User Base (2026). Daily Code Generation. Control Philosophy. Enterprise Security. Learning Curve. Market Position
Windsurf leads in agentic AI capabilities, security certifications, and raw user growth metrics, making it ideal for teams seeking autonomous coding workflows. Cursor excels in familiar developer experience and deterministic control, better suited for organizations preferring gradual AI integration. Both remain top-tier choices depending on your automation vs. control preference.
Cursor: 3 (familiar) | Windsurf: 7 (novel)
Cursor: VS Code-based only | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Native & Superior | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Not publicly disclosed | Windsurf: 1M+
Cursor: Significant but undisclosed | Windsurf: 59%
Cursor: Enterprise-grade | Windsurf: FedRAMP High, DoD IL5, ITA
Cursor: VS Code fork | Windsurf: Native IDE
Cursor: Proprietary Commercial | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Cursor Pro $20/mo | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Business $40/user/mo | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Standalone editor — a fork of VS Code (install Cursor itself) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, Google Gemini, plus Cursor fast models (per-request switching) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Composer (Agent) plan-execute-verify loop across many files; runs commands and tests | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Whole-repo semantic embeddings with automatic relevant-file retrieval; built for monorepos | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Very fast predictive Tab completions that jump to the next edit location | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: SSO, privacy mode (no retention/training), admin controls, SOC 2 | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Graphical IDE (VS Code fork) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Interactive in-editor coding | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Flat plan with request quota + usage add-ons | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Monthly fast-request quota | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Multi-model (Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Not designed for it | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Workspace indexing + @-mentions | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Low (VS Code familiarity) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Interactive feature building & quick edits | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Yes — free Hobby tier plus a 2-week Pro trial | Windsurf: Yes — generous free tier with limited premium credits
Cursor: Agent (formerly Composer) | Windsurf: Cascade
Cursor: Cursor Tab model | Windsurf: Supercomplete (Codeium-tuned)
Cursor: VS Code fork | Windsurf: VS Code fork
Cursor: Claude, GPT, Gemini families (frequent day-one additions) | Windsurf: Claude, GPT, Gemini families + Codeium models
Cursor: Mature enterprise tier with SSO + privacy mode | Windsurf: Enterprise tier with SSO + self-hosting heritage
Cursor: macOS, Windows, Linux | Windsurf: macOS, Windows, Linux + JetBrains plugin
Cursor: Largest AI-IDE community and mindshare | Windsurf: Growing since the Windsurf rebrand
Cursor: 128,000 tokens | Windsurf: 8,000 tokens
Cursor: 0 (paid tier required) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Superior) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Native @-indexing across entire codebase | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: ~15,000 (via VS Code) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Native Claude integration | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Code sent to Anthropic servers | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 50-200ms (Tab autocomplete) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Desktop (Mac, Windows, Linux) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4, Others | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: ~500K (estimated based on download trends) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Entire projects (no hard limit) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 1.5 years (launched Oct 2024) | Windsurf: <1 year (2024)
Cursor: 200,000 (Claude 3.5 Sonnet) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: ~50 (via Claude AI) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 40+ | Windsurf: 30+ via built-in support
Cursor: Limited (chat requires internet) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 50 premium requests | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 70,000+ (VS Code) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 4+ (Claude, GPT-4, local) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Electron (VS Code fork) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 200KB (Claude) | Windsurf: 200,000 tokens
Primary AI Model Quality (MMBENCH score)
Cursor: 1-2 steps (download IDE) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 3 (Claude, GPT-4, other) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: No (proprietary) | Windsurf: Closed/Proprietary
Cursor: 1 (Cursor IDE only) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 14-day free trial | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Code, text, file references | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Native VS Code-based editor | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 1–3 seconds (avg inline suggestion) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Automatic full-project indexing | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: No native mobile app | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Varies by plan (Pro tier higher) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: ~500KB+ codebase context | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet + GPT-4 | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: Full native support | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 4 (Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini, local) | Windsurf: N/A
Cursor: 14 days | Windsurf: 30 days unlimited
Cursor: Yes, full project indexing | Windsurf: Riptide retrieval indexing
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Windsurf IDE only
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Full multi-step autonomous execution with state tracking
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Codeium (proprietary)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: ~800ms average completion
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Web-only (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: API subscription required (Claude API)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Claude 3.5 Sonnet only
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Early access/Beta (2024-2025)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Multi-step browser workflows (3-10+ steps)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Web files only (.html, .js, .css)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Automatic across entire codebase
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Freemium with credit system
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: ~0.5 million (estimated)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Full standalone IDE included
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Native multi-file support
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: 1 (Windsurf proprietary IDE only)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: 1 (Windsurf IDE only)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Anthropic)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Yes, with rate limits
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: Inherits all VS Code extensions
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: 140% faster (40% improvement)
Cursor: N/A | Windsurf: 200+ (via VS Code compatibility)
How to choose between Cursor and Windsurf
Cursor vs Windsurf — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Cursor vs Windsurf. Contains 166 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Cursor vs Windsurf — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Cursor vs Windsurf.
What is the key difference between Cursor and Windsurf in 2026?
Cursor is a VS Code-based AI assistant emphasizing predictable control through Rules and Plan Mode, while Windsurf is Codeium's native agentic IDE prioritizing autonomous AI workflows. Windsurf leads in agent autonomy and enterprise scale (1M+ users, 59% Fortune 500), while Cursor excels in developer familiarity and deterministic behavior control.
Which tool has better enterprise security certifications?
Windsurf significantly outpaces Cursor with FedRAMP High, DoD IL5, and ITA certifications, making it the clear choice for government and highly regulated enterprise deployments. Cursor offers enterprise-grade security but lacks these specific high-security certifications.
Windsurf publicly reports 1M+ active users as of March 2026, with 70M+ lines of code generated daily and 59% Fortune 500 adoption. Cursor maintains significant enterprise adoption but does not publicly disclose specific user metrics.
Which is better for teams new to AI coding assistants?
Cursor is better for newcomers due to its familiar VS Code interface and intuitive autocomplete paradigm. Windsurf requires learning a new IDE paradigm but offers superior autonomous capabilities once the learning curve is mastered.
Cascade is Windsurf's agentic AI engine that enables autonomous planning and multi-step code workflows without explicit user direction. It powers features like Windsurf Tab for rapid multi-file edits and represents the core difference between Windsurf's agentic approach vs. Cursor's suggestion-based model.
How to Choose Between Cursor and Windsurf
Base Architecture: Cursor has VS Code fork with AI layer, while Windsurf has Native AI-first IDE.
Agent Capabilities: Cursor has Plan Mode, Slash Commands, Rules, while Windsurf has Cascade agent, Windsurf Tab, autonomous workflows.
User Base (2026): Cursor has Major enterprise adoption, while Windsurf has 1M+ active users, 59% Fortune 500.
Daily Code Generation: Cursor has Not publicly disclosed, while Windsurf has 70M+ lines/day.
Control Philosophy: Cursor has Predictable, rule-based controls, while Windsurf has Agentic autonomy-first.
Enterprise Security: Cursor has Enterprise deployments, while Windsurf has FedRAMP High, DoD IL5, ITA certified.
Learning Curve: Cursor has Familiar VS Code interface, while Windsurf has New IDE paradigm.
Market Position: Cursor has Established leader, while Windsurf has Fastest-growing AI dev tool.