Cursor vs Windsurf: A 2025 Developer’s Guide to the Best AI Coding IDE
Key Differences Between Cursor and Windsurf
System Requirements: Which IDE Runs Better on Your Machine?
Choosing the right AI-powered coding IDE can significantly impact your productivity and workflow. In this guide, we compare Cursor and Windsurf, two leading AI-enhanced development environments. We'll break down everything from pricing and features to model support and real-world usage to help you decide which one fits your development style.
Cursor VS Windsurf -- Which AI Coding IDE is the Best?
Watch our in-depth breakdown of Cursor vs Windsurf — two of the top AI-powered coding IDEs for 2025. We compare features, pricing, model support, and real-world performance to help you choose the best fit for your development workflow.
Pricing Breakdown
Cursor
Free Plan: Basic access with limited AI features for casual use
Pro ($20/month): Unlimited completions, good for individual power users
Max ($40/month): Larger context window (up to 120K tokens), premium models
Windsurf
$15/month: 500 prompt credits + 1,500 flow actions
$60/month: 3,000 flow actions, but editing files and actions consume many credits
Winner on pricing
Cursor, for predictable, high-volume use. Check out our comprehensive Beginner's Guide to Cursor AI for maximizing value on any plan.
Model Availability & Real-World Performance
Cursor
Supports:
- Gemini 2.5 Pro — great at following instructions, fast
- Claude 3.7 Sonnet — adds creativity, good for frontend
- GPT-4 (via OpenAI key)
Windsurf
Adds support for:
- DeepSeek — excellent for specialized coding tasks
- 03 Mini — efficient for smaller projects
- Proprietary Windsurf models — optimized for specific workflows
In real-world testing:
- Gemini 2.5 Pro was best for logic-heavy coding and backend development
- Claude 3.7 Sonnet was superior for UI or visual enhancements and creative solutions
- Windsurf's proprietary models showed advantages in specialized scenarios
For an in-depth comparison of model performance across different coding tasks, see our detailed analysis of Sonnet 3.7 vs Gemini 2.5 Pro in Cursor.
Hands-On Test: How Far Do the Credits Go?
We tested building a simple game in Windsurf:
- Starting project used 1 prompt + 5 actions
- Editing and saving required 1 more prompt + 4 more actions
- That's 11 credits for one small session
Even the $60/month tier only gives ~600 usable prompts per month. Cursor's flat pricing makes heavy development far more sustainable.
Want to see how Cursor handles complex projects? Check out our Gemini vs Sonnet in Cursor walkthrough for game development examples.
Context Windows: Token vs Vector
Cursor
- Traditional token-based limits
- Free plan: Limited context
- Pro plan: Up to 32K tokens
- Max plan: Up to 120K tokens
- "Thinking" mode allows deeper reasoning on complex code problems
Windsurf
- Uses vector search to find relevant snippets from your whole codebase
- Potentially smarter referencing across multiple files
- Especially helpful in large codebases or multiple-file projects
- Requires more system resources to function optimally
Takeaway: Windsurf's context system offers technical advantages for large projects, while Cursor provides more predictable performance for most development tasks.
Developer Experience
Cursor
- Based on VS Code, so the learning curve is minimal
- Settings like Agent Mode and .cursor rules files offer control
- Clear hotkeys: Ctrl+L, Ctrl+K, Ctrl+T
- More stable across sessions
- Weaker with very large monorepos
Windsurf
- Originally buggy, now significantly improved
- More complex UI with credit tracking and nested features
- Advanced tagging system for organizing code insights
- Better visualization of code relationships
- Superior handling of large codebases
For those starting out or wanting reliability, Cursor still wins. Get started with our step-by-step Cursor setup guide
Both platforms require human oversight. AI coding assistance enhances capabilities but doesn't replace sound engineering judgment.
Which IDE Should You Choose?
Choose Cursor if you:
- Work with high volume prompts
- Prefer stable UX with predictable pricing
- Want simplicity and ease of use
- Need reliable performance across common tasks
Choose Windsurf if you:
- Need specialized models like DeepSeek
- Work on large, complex codebases
- Are comfortable navigating credits and advanced UX
- Require advanced code visualization features
Related Resouces
Step-by-step Cursor AI guide: Learn how to use modes, prompts, and models effectively.
Gemini vs Sonnet in Cursor: Watch them battle in a real multiplayer game development test.
Take Your AI Coding Setup to the Next Level
Choosing the right IDE is just the start. Want help optimizing your AI development workflow, integrating custom models, or scaling your projects faster? 42RobotsAI were here to guide you.
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