CursorVS
Windsurf
Two AI editors, one of which is now sold as part of something else. Prices read off each vendor's own page and re-read nightly.
- CURSOR
- $20 / mo
- WINDSURF
- Not published as tiers
- CHANGES ON EITHER
- 7
- CAVEATS
- 1
WINDSURFACQUIRED SINCE 14 JULY 2025Windsurf was acquired by Cognition and is no longer independent. Acquired by Cognition in 2025 after the Google deal took the founding team; $82M ARR at acquisition. Every "Cursor vs Windsurf" page written before the acquisition describes a company that no longer exists independently.
Read the second row before the prices, because it is the thing most comparisons of this pair still get wrong: windsurf.com/pricing redirects to devin.ai/pricing, and the plan table it serves is Cognition's Devin, with the editor appearing on it as Devin Desktop. So this is no longer an editor against an editor. Take Cursor if you want the editor to be the product, $20 / mo. for Individual, $40 / user / mo. for Teams with SSO and pooled billing, and the largest install base of anything here, which matters when you are hiring. Take Windsurf if what you actually want is an agent that keeps working after you close the laptop: the same $20 buys cloud agents, and Max at $200 per month is the only published price in this comparison aimed at long autonomous runs rather than pair-programming. Both meter usage and both let you buy more, Cursor "billed in arrears", Cognition at API pricing, so neither headline price is the bill. ToolDrift sells neither and takes no referral fee on either.
| COMPARED ON | CURSOR | WINDSURF |
|---|---|---|
| ASSERTED · WHAT EACH VENDOR PUBLISHES ABOUT ITSELF | ||
| Category | IDE | IDE |
| Vendor | Anysphere | Cognition |
| Status | Active | Acquired |
| How it charges | Subscription | Subscription |
| Entry price | $20 / mo | Not published as tiers |
| Default model | None, you choose | None, you choose |
| Your own key | Yes | No, bundled only |
| Source | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Plans | Hobby · price not readIndividual · $20 / moTeams · $40 / mo per user / moEnterprise · Custom | Cognition publishes no pricing page for Windsurf, so there are no tiers to compare. |
| MEASURED · COUNTED ON THE LAST NIGHTLY RUN | ||
| Stars | not measured | not measured |
| Maintenance | not measured | not measured |
| Days since last push | not measured | not measured |
| Top model in it | not measured | not measured |
| Its volume | not measured | not measured |
Is Windsurf the same thing as Devin now?
On the pricing page, effectively yes. windsurf.com/pricing redirects to devin.ai/pricing, and the plan table there is Devin's, Free, Pro at $20 per month, Max at $200 per month, Teams at $80 /month plus $40/mo per full dev seat. The editor appears on that table as "Devin Desktop", and the free tier's headline capability is "Unlimited Devin Desktop Tab". Cognition acquired Windsurf and is now selling both under one plan ladder. Read on 2026-08-14.
Is Cursor or Windsurf cheaper?
The same, at the tier most people buy: $20 a month each. They diverge above and below it. Windsurf's next step up is Max at $200 per month; Cursor's Individual card names Pro, Pro+ and Ultra and prints one price, $20 / mo., for all three, read with a fetch and again in a real browser, no second figure is on the page at load. On teams, Cursor is $40 / user / mo. flat; Cognition charges $80 /month for the team plan plus $40/mo per full dev seat.
What happens when I run out of usage?
Both sell you more rather than cutting you off, and neither headline price is therefore the bill. Cursor: "Every plan includes a set amount of model usage. On-demand usage allows you to continue using models after your included amount is consumed, billed in arrears." Cognition: "If you do go beyond your included usage on a paid plan, you can purchase extra usage which is consumed at API pricing." Which is cheaper depends entirely on the models you drive and how hard.
Which one should I pick for a team?
Cursor, on published terms, unless cloud agents are the point. Cursor Teams is $40 / user / mo. and the card lists SAML/OIDC SSO, centralised billing, team-wide privacy mode and agentic code review at that price. Cognition's Teams tier is $80 /month for the plan plus $40/mo per full dev seat, so it costs more for the first developer and roughly the same per developer after that, and what the extra buys is Devin Cloud rather than administration.