Cline vs Windsurf: Side-by-Side Comparison 2026

Cline vs Windsurf comparison for 2026. Features, pricing, AI capabilities, and editor support analyzed side by side to help you choose the right coding tool for your workflow.

Cline is an AI agent from Cline (Open Source) — open-source ai agent for vs code. Windsurf is an AI IDE from Cognition — the agentic ai ide.

Cline

Open-source AI agent for VS Code that plans, edits, and runs code with a focus on transparency. BYOK (Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, local models) or paid Cline Cloud with included credits.

  • ✓ AI chat
  • ✓ Agentic mode
  • ✓ Multi-file editing
  • ✓ Terminal commands
  • ✓ Test generation

Free · 2 plans

Windsurf

AI-first IDE with Cascade. an agentic assistant that understands your codebase and makes multi-file changes. Now owned by Cognition (makers of Devin). Also available as Windsurf Plugin for VS Code and JetBrains.

  • ✓ Cascade agentic AI
  • ✓ Code completions
  • ✓ Multi-file editing
  • ✓ Terminal integration
  • ✓ Codebase search

Free / $20/mo · 5 plans

Feature Cline Windsurf
Category AgentAI IDE
Starting Price Free Free
Model Family Multi-model (any)Multi-model
Open Source Yes (Apache 2.0)No

Pricing verified May 4, 2026. Cline pricing | Windsurf pricing

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Key Differences

  • Category: Cline is an AI agent; Windsurf is an AI IDE.
  • Starting price: Cline starts at free / BYOK; Windsurf starts at $20/mo.
  • Model family: Cline uses Multi-model (any); Windsurf uses Multi-model.
  • Open source: Cline: Yes (Apache 2.0). Windsurf: No.
  • Platforms: Cline runs on Desktop; Windsurf runs on Linux, Windows, macOS.
  • Provider: Cline is built by Cline (Open Source); Windsurf is built by Cognition.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Cline if you want autonomous coding with full transparency into every action taken. Choose Windsurf if you want an agentic IDE with autonomous multi-step changes. Read our full reviews to see which fits your workflow.

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