Windsurf Review 2026: An AI IDE at a Lower Price Point

What Is Windsurf?

Windsurf is a standalone AI IDE — a direct competitor to Cursor. Like Cursor, it is built as an AI-first editor rather than a traditional editor with AI bolted on. Its headline feature is Cascade, an agentic AI assistant that can navigate your codebase and make multi-file changes.

It is positioned as a more affordable alternative to Cursor, with a Pro plan at $15/mo versus Cursor’s $20/mo.

What It Does

Cascade Agent

Cascade is Windsurf’s agentic AI. It can navigate your codebase, plan multi-step changes, and edit multiple files. For example, asking it to “add error handling to all API routes” will have it work through your project file by file.

In our experience, Cascade handles straightforward tasks — adding a feature, fixing a bug, implementing a known pattern — reliably. It becomes less predictable on complex, multi-step tasks where Cursor’s Composer tends to maintain context better.

Code Completions

Windsurf’s completion engine is fast and context-aware. Suggestions appear quickly and draw from your project’s patterns. Completion quality is solid for common languages and frameworks.

AI Chat

The built-in chat understands your project context. You can ask questions about your codebase, get explanations, and request changes. You can reference specific files and symbols in the conversation.

Terminal Integration

Like Cursor, Windsurf includes an integrated terminal with AI assistance for composing and explaining commands.

Pricing

Plan	Price	Key Features
Free	$0	Limited AI flows, basic completions
Pro	$15/mo	Unlimited AI flows, premium models
Team	$35/mo	Admin controls, SSO, centralized billing

At $15/mo, the Pro plan is $5 less than Cursor Pro. The free tier is also more generous than Cursor’s, offering more AI interaction before hitting limits.

Pricing verified February 2026. Check Windsurf pricing for current pricing.

Strengths

The $15/mo price point is the main draw. For developers who want an AI IDE with agentic capabilities but find Cursor’s $20/mo too steep, Windsurf offers a meaningful discount with similar core features.

The free tier is more usable than Cursor’s. Windsurf’s free plan allows more AI interactions, making it a better option for developers who want to evaluate an AI IDE without committing to a subscription.

The UI is well-designed. Status indicators during AI operations are clear, diffs are easy to review, and the overall layout feels modern. The Windsurf team has put effort into the editing experience.

Weaknesses

Cascade is less consistent on complex tasks. In multi-step refactors that span many files, Cascade sometimes loses context or makes edits that conflict with each other. Cursor’s Composer handles these edge cases with fewer errors in our testing.

The community is still small. Fewer blog posts, tutorials, and Stack Overflow answers compared to Cursor or Copilot. When you hit an issue, you are more dependent on Windsurf’s official docs and Discord.

Stability is improving but not yet solid. We experienced occasional freezes and crashes during long editing sessions. Windsurf ships updates frequently, and each release has been more stable, but it is not yet as reliable as Cursor for extended use.

Who It’s For

Windsurf fits well for:

• Developers who want an AI IDE but find Cursor’s pricing too high
• Current Windsurf Plugin users who want to move to an agentic IDE
• Developers evaluating AI IDEs for the first time (the free tier is a good entry point)
• Teams that want a self-contained AI development environment at a lower per-seat cost

Windsurf is a harder sell for:

• Developers who need the most consistent multi-file editing (Cursor is more reliable here)
• Teams that depend on a large community and ecosystem of third-party resources
• Developers who need high stability for long work sessions

Sources

• Windsurf
• Windsurf Pricing