Windsurf is Codeium's AI code editor focused on real-time code generation and autonomous editing, while Cursor is an AI-first code editor by Anysphere emphasizing natural language commands and multi-file context understanding. Cursor has stronger market adoption with 500K+ users versus Windsurf's emerging user base.
Windsurf vs Cursor — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Codeium's AI code editor emphasizing autonomous code generation and real-time editing capabilities.
Desktop IDE (VS Code fork) with integrated native AI assistant and $20/month Pro tier
Primary Use Case. User Base Size. Context Window (tokens). Pricing Model. Multi-file Editing. IDE Integration. Launch Date
Choose Cursor if you want a mature, widely-adopted AI code editor with superior multi-file context handling and broader IDE integration for production workflows. Choose Windsurf if you prefer Codeium's autonomous editing approach and want a newer, potentially more innovative alternative with a smaller, more focused community.
Windsurf: 1M+ | Cursor: Not publicly disclosed
Windsurf: 59% | Cursor: Significant but undisclosed
Windsurf: FedRAMP High, DoD IL5, ITA | Cursor: Enterprise-grade
Windsurf: Native IDE | Cursor: VS Code fork
Windsurf: 7 (novel) | Cursor: 3 (familiar)
Windsurf: Yes — generous free tier with limited premium credits | Cursor: Yes — free Hobby tier plus a 2-week Pro trial
Windsurf: Cascade | Cursor: Agent (formerly Composer)
Windsurf: Supercomplete (Codeium-tuned) | Cursor: Cursor Tab model
Windsurf: VS Code fork | Cursor: VS Code fork
Windsurf: Riptide retrieval indexing | Cursor: Yes, full project indexing
Windsurf: Claude, GPT, Gemini families + Codeium models | Cursor: Claude, GPT, Gemini families (frequent day-one additions)
Windsurf: Enterprise tier with SSO + self-hosting heritage | Cursor: Mature enterprise tier with SSO + privacy mode
Windsurf: macOS, Windows, Linux + JetBrains plugin | Cursor: macOS, Windows, Linux
Windsurf: Growing since the Windsurf rebrand | Cursor: Largest AI-IDE community and mindshare
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: 8,000 tokens | Cursor: 128,000 tokens
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: Closed/Proprietary | Cursor: No (proprietary)
Windsurf: Automatic across entire codebase | Cursor: N/A
Windsurf: Freemium with credit system | Cursor: N/A
Windsurf: 30+ via built-in support | Cursor: 40+
Windsurf: ~0.5 million (estimated) | Cursor: N/A
Windsurf: <1 year (2024) | Cursor: 1.5 years (launched Oct 2024)
Windsurf: Full standalone IDE included | Cursor: N/A
Windsurf: Native multi-file support | Cursor: N/A
Windsurf: 1 (Windsurf proprietary IDE only) | Cursor: Standalone only
Windsurf: 30 days unlimited | Cursor: 14 days
Windsurf: 200,000 tokens | Cursor: 200KB (Claude)
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: 128,000 tokens | Cursor: 200,000 tokens
Windsurf: 3 major models (Codeium, Claude, GPT-4o) | Cursor: 3 models
Windsurf: Yes (built-in) | Cursor: No (via extensions only)
Windsurf: 1,200+ (Windsurf ecosystem) | Cursor: 40,000+ (VS Code marketplace)
Windsurf: 15-25 minutes | Cursor: 5-10 minutes
Windsurf: Yes (Flows) | Cursor: Limited (basic)
Windsurf: Inherits all VS Code extensions | Cursor: N/A
Windsurf: 140% faster (40% improvement) | Cursor: N/A
Windsurf: 200+ (via VS Code compatibility) | Cursor: N/A
Windsurf: ~75,000 estimated | Cursor: 1+ million
Windsurf: 32,000 tokens | Cursor: 128,000 tokens
Windsurf: Unlimited (with limits) | Cursor: 50 requests/month
Windsurf: 50+ languages | Cursor: 40+ languages
Windsurf: 1 (standalone editor) | Cursor: 2 (VSCode + standalone)
Windsurf: Limited (single-file focus) | Cursor: Advanced (full workspace)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: VS Code-based only
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: Native & Superior
Windsurf: N/A | 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: 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: 200,000 (Claude 3.5 Sonnet)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: ~50 (via Claude AI)
Windsurf: N/A | 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)
Primary AI Model Quality (MMBENCH score)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: 1-2 steps (download IDE)
Windsurf: N/A | 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+ (GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini, local)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: Native (full project)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: Download .dmg/.exe (1-click installer)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: Proprietary (not public)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: 100,000 tokens/month (Claude only)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: VS Code only (or Cursor standalone IDE)
Windsurf: N/A | Cursor: Liveshare integration included
How to choose between Windsurf and Cursor
Windsurf vs Cursor — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Windsurf vs Cursor. Contains 188 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Windsurf vs Cursor — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Windsurf vs Cursor.
Which is better for refactoring large codebases?
Cursor is significantly better for large-codebase refactoring due to its 128K token context window and advanced multi-file editing capabilities, which allow it to understand and modify code across your entire project. Windsurf's single-file focus makes it more suited for isolated file-level tasks.
What's the main difference between Windsurf and Cursor?
Windsurf emphasizes autonomous code generation where the AI takes initiative in editing and generating code with minimal user direction, while Cursor focuses on natural language-driven development where you command the AI through chat and instructions. Cursor also handles multi-file context better and has significantly more users (500K+ vs ~75K).
Which AI code editor has a larger user community?
Cursor has a substantially larger user base with 500,000+ active users compared to Windsurf's estimated 50K-100K users. This means more community resources, tutorials, and third-party integrations are available for Cursor.
Can I use Windsurf or Cursor with my existing VSCode setup?
Cursor offers a VSCode extension, allowing integration into your existing workflow. Windsurf is currently a standalone editor only, so you cannot integrate it directly into VSCode, though both function as complete code editors independently.
How much context can each editor understand?
Cursor's Pro tier supports 128,000 tokens of context, enabling it to understand entire large codebases. Windsurf supports 32,000 tokens, which is sufficient for smaller projects but may require more manual context management for complex applications.
How to Choose Between Windsurf and Cursor
Primary Use Case: Windsurf has Real-time code generation & autonomous editing, while Cursor has Natural language-driven coding & chat-based commands.
User Base Size: Windsurf has ~50K-100K estimated users, while Cursor has 500K+ active users.
Context Window (tokens): Windsurf has 32K tokens standard, while Cursor has 128K tokens (Pro tier).
Pricing Model: Windsurf has Free tier available; paid ~$20/month, while Cursor has Free tier; Pro $20/month (limited requests).
Multi-file Editing: Windsurf has Single-file focus, while Cursor has Multi-file context & editing.
IDE Integration: Windsurf has Standalone editor only, while Cursor has Standalone + VSCode extension.
Launch Date: Windsurf has 2024 (recent launch), while Cursor has 2023.