Cursor vs Windsurf
Two AI-first editors, both rebilled in 2026. Which one survives the comparison?
Last revised 2026-09-17
Our pick
Cursor
Cursor is the better editor and, remarkably, the more stable company of the two. Windsurf has been Codeium, nearly OpenAI's, partly Google's and is now Cognition's, and the free tier was cut back along the way. Buy Cursor monthly; try Windsurf's free tier if you want a second opinion without paying.
Side by side
| Cursor AI Coding Our pick | Windsurf (formerly Codeium) AI Coding | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 3.5 cydersWorth pouring | 2.5 cydersDrinkable |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes2,000 completions, 50 premium messages/month | YesFree plan with a limited agent quota, unlimited tab completions |
| What the paid plans are | Pro's 500-request allowance became a $20/mo credit pool billed at API rates, with unlimited use only of Auto-routed models. Overage is charged. Business $40/seat. | Credits retired on 19 March 2026 under Cognition, replaced by daily and weekly quotas with overage at API pricing. Pro $20/mo, Teams $40/seat, Max $200. |
| Best for | Full-Stack DevelopersStartupsAI-Native Engineers | Individual DevelopersStudentsOpen Source Contributors |
| Pros |
|
|
| Cons |
|
|
| Price checked | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-16 |
| Visit | Cursor → | Windsurf (formerly Codeium) → |
Same idea, different custodians
Both products are VS Code descendants with an agent living in the editor. On the code side the gap is smaller than the marketing suggests: Windsurf's completions are fast, its free tier is real, and plenty of developers prefer its interface. If the products were all you were buying, this would be a toss-up.
You are also buying a company, and that is where it stops being close.
Windsurf's year
Windsurf started as Codeium, went through an acquisition process involving OpenAI that did not complete, had its leadership and licensing go to Google, and ended up at Cognition, the company behind Devin. Then in March 2026 it retired credit-based billing entirely, replacing it with daily and weekly usage quotas plus overage at API pricing. Existing paid subscribers kept their prices. New ones got the new shape.
Its public scores split along that timeline. The 4.3 on G2 is largely reviews written before the pricing changes. The 1.4 on Trustpilot is not. Both numbers are honest about the period they describe, which is why we score the product lower than the G2 average alone would suggest.
Cursor's year
Cursor did the same thing a year earlier and got the backlash out of the way. The June 2025 change turned a 500-request allowance into a credit pool at API rates, users were angry, Anysphere apologised, refunds were offered for surprise charges. Since then the terms have at least held still, and the agent is the best in the category.
That is a low bar, and it is still the higher one here.
The free tier question
Windsurf's free plan is the strongest argument for it: unlimited tab completions and a limited agent quota, which is enough to work out whether you like the model of working before spending anything. Cursor's free tier is thinner and funnels you to Pro faster.
Use that. Run a week of real work in Windsurf free, then a week in Cursor Pro. Nobody who does this needs an article to decide.
How we would buy it
- •Paying money: Cursor, monthly.
- •Not paying money: Windsurf free, which is genuinely usable.
- •Deciding for a team: neither on annual terms. Two repricings in eighteen months across two vendors is the pattern, not the exception.
- •Considering Windsurf Max at its top tier: check what the quota actually delivers this month before committing. Quotas are easier to change quietly than prices.
Cursor
3.5Worth pouringCursor is the best agentic editor we can point at, and its pricing behaviour has been ugly. The June 2025 switch gutted the $20 plan, limits were never published in tokens anyone could predict, and the CEO publicly apologised for the rollout. Refund requests on annual plans reportedly hit an AI support wall. Buy it monthly.
Full Cursor reviewWindsurf (formerly Codeium)
2.5DrinkableWindsurf has been Codeium, nearly OpenAI's, then partly Google's, and is now Cognition's, and the free tier got cut back on the way through. Its 4.3 on G2 mostly predates the pricing changes; the 1.4 on Trustpilot does not. Good editor, chaotic custodian, and the deal you sign up for may not be the deal in six months.
Full Windsurf (formerly Codeium) reviewOther comparisons
Scores are our own editorial verdicts in cyders out of 5, not an average of other people's ratings. How we score. Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page on the date shown above, and vendors change plans often, so confirm before you buy.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects our pick. See our affiliate disclosure.