Qwen Code vs Windsurf: Which AI Agent Is Better?
An in-depth comparison of Qwen Code and Windsurf across output quality, autonomy, reliability, speed, value, and ease of use. Vote for your favorite.
An in-depth comparison of Qwen Code 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.
Qwen Code 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.
Qwen CodeWindsurfChoose Qwen Code if you are developers who want a free, Claude Code-style terminal agent that runs Qwen models next to any other provider. Choose Windsurf if you are developers who want an affordable AI editor with agentic capabilities.
In our editorial scoring, Windsurf leads in 2 of six categories (speed and ease of use), while Qwen Code leads in 1 (value). On price, Qwen Code runs free (apache 2.0), bring your own provider and is open source; Windsurf runs free / $20 pro / $200 max (as devin desktop) and is proprietary.
What it costs to run Qwen Code
Best API for Qwen Code →
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.
Qwen Code is Alibaba's Qwen team's open-source coding agent. It was originally based on Gemini CLI v0.8.2, stopped syncing with upstream at v0.1 and has been developed on its own since, with frequent releases (v0.25.2 on October 15, 2026). It ships subagents, agent teams, skills, hooks, MCP, plan mode, LSP and git worktrees, plus VS Code, JetBrains and Zed plugins, a desktop app and Telegram, DingTalk, WeChat and Feishu channels. Unlike Gemini CLI it speaks the OpenAI, Anthropic and Gemini APIs, so any compatible provider works through modelProviders in ~/.qwen/settings.json. The free Qwen OAuth tier ended on April 15, 2026: the tool is still free, and the models come from Alibaba's Coding Plan or Token Plan, a built-in third-party provider, a local model or a custom provider.
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.
Qwen Code runs on Standard Compute
