ai ide
for Developers
Windsurf vs Cursor: which is better for Developers?
TL;DR for Developers
Windsurf focuses on planning and navigating large codebases across IDEs, while Cursor excels at surgical, in-editor edits within its own IDE.
Key Differences
| Feature | Windsurf | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| Planning vs editing focus | Windsurf approach | Cursor approach |
| Cross-IDE support vs standalone | Windsurf approach | Cursor approach |
| Team collaboration & SOC2 | Windsurf approach | Cursor approach |
| Pricing & tiers | Windsurf approach | Cursor approach |
| Latency & performance | Windsurf approach | Cursor approach |
| Community maturity | Windsurf approach | Cursor approach |
Pricing Snapshot
Windsurf: Pro $15/mo; Team $30/mo; Cursor: free 200 completions & Pro $20/mo (2025‑10‑13)
Last reviewed: 2025-10-13
Windsurf
Choose Windsurf if:
- You need to plan & navigate huge, nested codebases
- You want cross-IDE integration & collaboration
- You value team features
Pros
- + Designed for large & nested codebases
- + Multi-file planning & search
- + Cross-IDE integration
- + Team collaboration features
- + Affordable pricing
Cons
- - New product with smaller community
- - Setup & onboarding overhead
- - Latency on very large projects
- - Fewer inline edit features
Cursor
Choose Cursor if:
- You want fast inline edits & refactors
- You prefer a dedicated AI IDE
- You need multiple LLM options
Pros
- + Deep codebase understanding (@files/@folders)
- + Ask/Agent/Manual AI modes
- + Supports multiple LLMs (GPT, Claude, Gemini)
- + Inline edits & refactors
- + Great for repo-scale changes
Cons
- - Paid plans start at $20/mo
- - Limited free completions
- - No cross-IDE support
- - Newer product; smaller community
Also Consider
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