Cursor vs Windsurf: Which AI Agent Is Better?
An in-depth comparison of Cursor and Windsurf across output quality, autonomy, reliability, speed, value, and ease of use. Vote for your favorite.
An in-depth comparison of Cursor and Windsurf across output quality, autonomy, reliability, speed, value, and ease of use. Vote for your favorite.
Either way, you pay for the model calls. A median coding-agent day on our gateway is 95 requests and 8.6 million tokens. The table prices every step at one model’s rate.
Cursor runs on Standard Compute, where each step goes to the cheapest model that can do it: routine steps go to efficient open models, hard ones to frontier models such as Claude Fable 5.1 or GPT-6 Astra.
| Model | Typical day | Busy day |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5.5 | $7.34 | $59.10 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $3.67 | $29.55 |
| GPT-6 Luna | $0.23 | $2.43 |
Fixed monthly plans from $19. Eligible new accounts can try $0.25 of compute first, no card. Trial terms
Pick a winner in each category. You can change your vote anytime.
CursorWindsurfChoose Cursor if you are developers who want the most polished AI-integrated editor experience. Choose Windsurf if you are developers who want an affordable AI editor with agentic capabilities.
In our editorial scoring, Cursor leads in 5 of six categories (output quality, autonomy, reliability, speed and ease of use), while Windsurf leads in 1 (value). On price, Cursor runs free tier / $8–200/mo and is proprietary; Windsurf runs free / $20 pro / $200 max (as devin desktop) and is proprietary.
What it costs to run Cursor
Best API for Cursor →
4 options compared, with prices and limits
Standard Compute sends each step to the cheapest model that can do it, on providers we vet for price, uptime and speed. Plans start at $19 a month, and eligible new accounts can try $0.25 of compute with no card. Choose your agent below to connect.
See the trial and activation steps →
More on Cursor: How much does Cursor cost now? · Can I use Cursor with my own API key on a fixed monthly budget?
Cursor is a fork of VS Code redesigned from the ground up for AI-powered development. It features tab completions, natural language code editing, codebase-wide chat, and multi-file editing. Its deep editor integration makes it one of the most polished AI coding tools available.
Windsurf began as Codeium's AI-first code editor, known for its Cascade agent. Cognition (the company behind Devin) bought it in 2025, and since June 2026 it ships as Devin Desktop, "the next generation of Windsurf": an agent command center with a built-in VS Code-style IDE; windsurf.com now redirects there. Plans are shared with Devin: Free, Pro at $20 a month and Max at $200, each with a usage allowance that refreshes daily and weekly, and extra usage billed at API prices.
Cursor runs on Standard Compute
