Cursor vs Windsurf
Both are forks of VS Code with AI baked in. Both want to be your daily editor. The differences come down to how aggressive the agent is, how the pricing works, and which one has the polish you actually need.
At a glance
| Cursor | Windsurf | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (Pro) | $20/month | $30/month (Pro) |
| Free tier | Limited Hobby plan | Generous free Cascade Base |
| Headline feature | Composer + @codebase | Cascade agent (always-on) |
| Autonomy | Opt-in agent mode | Cascade runs continuously in the background |
| Model choice | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, o3 | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Llama (smaller catalog) |
| Codebase context | @codebase (manual + auto) | Cascade indexing (real-time) |
| VS Code extensions | Most work, some lag | Most work, similar lag |
| Stability | Mature, large user base | Improving fast, smaller user base |
When to pick Cursor
- You want predictable AI. Composer only runs when you ask. Cascade runs continuously, which some devs love and others find distracting.
- You want the widest model choice. Cursor adds new models faster.
- You're working with a large team. More tutorials, more extensions tested, more people who can answer "why isn't this working."
When to pick Windsurf
- You want maximum autonomy. Cascade is the most agent-forward editor on the market. It can plan, run, test, and iterate without you re-prompting.
- You want a single vendor for everything. IDE + integration + agent + context, one bill, one support team.
- The free tier matters. Windsurf's free Cascade Base is more generous than Cursor's Hobby plan.
Cascade vs Composer in practice
Composer is a chat-first agent. You describe what you want, it shows a plan, you accept, it edits files. You stay in the loop.
Cascade is a flow-first agent. It watches what you're doing, suggests changes inline, and can run tests and tweak code automatically. When it works, it feels magical. When it doesn't, it produces noise.
Rule of thumb: Cursor optimizes for the next prompt; Windsurf optimizes for the next twenty minutes of work.
The honest pick
Pick Cursor if you prefer to drive and want the AI to be your passenger. This is most devs.
Pick Windsurf if you want to delegate and let the agent figure things out. Especially good for repetitive feature work where you trust the plan.
Try the "Cursor Power User" and "Windsurf All-In" templates in Flowpicker to see the full stack each implies.
See the rest of each stack — Flowpicker pre-builds both as templates.
Open templates →