Both cost $20/mo. The difference is what they do.
AI-first IDE, multi-file agent edits
Codeium's AI IDE with Cascade autonomous agent
Cursor is the mature default — broader model support, larger MCP ecosystem, and a bigger community of plugin authors. Windsurf is the cheaper, more agent-forward alternative if you want Cascade's tighter flow and don't need every model under the sun.
Cursor and Windsurf are alternatives in the AI IDEs category. Cursor: AI-first IDE, multi-file agent edits. Windsurf: Codeium's AI IDE with Cascade autonomous agent. Both cost $20/mo.
| Attribute | Cursor | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Editor base | VS Code fork | VS Code fork |
| Primary agent | Composer / Agent mode | Cascade |
| MCP support | Mature, many servers | Yes, smaller server set |
| Inline edit (Cmd+K) | Yes | Yes |
| Model flexibility | All major frontier + local | Frontier + Codeium models |
Cursor is the mature default — broader model support, larger MCP ecosystem, and a bigger community of plugin authors. Windsurf is the cheaper, more agent-forward alternative if you want Cascade's tighter flow and don't need every model under the sun.
Neither. Both start at $20/mo.
AI-first IDE, multi-file agent edits. It sits in the ai ides category, and ships in 6 tested stacks here.
Codeium's AI IDE with Cascade autonomous agent. It sits in the ai ides category, and ships in 1 tested stack here.
They are alternatives at the same step, so most stacks pick one or the other. No aistack.sh stack uses both today, though nothing prevents a custom workflow.
Beyond each other, Cursor's closest alternatives are Claude Code, Codex. Windsurf's closest alternatives are Claude Code.