Windsurf is Better than Cursor

cursor windsurf ai ide
Published on 13 Dec 2024 and last updated on 13 Dec 2024

TL;DR #

After three months of using Cursor, I switched to Windsurf and found it to be more cost-effective with its unlimited Cascade Base model performing very close to Claude 3.5 Sonnet. While both are excellent tools, Windsurf’s combination of pricing and performance makes it my current choice for daily development.

My Journey with Cursor #

Yesterday marked my first day of completely switching from Cursor to Windsurf. For context, I’ve been using Cursor full-time for about three months across both personal and commercial projects, recently utilizing their agentic Composer feature. The Cursor + Claude 3.5 Sonnet combination was impressive, enabling me to build software faster and better than ever before.

Enter Windsurf #

For Cursor users, Windsurf feels instantly familiar - the user experience is nearly identical, making the transition seamless. However, there are key differences that make Windsurf stand out.

Why Windsurf Over Cursor? #

When Windsurf by Codeium launched at $10 per month for unlimited prompts, many developers (including myself) were skeptical. Comments on Hacker News and Reddit suggested it might be predatory pricing to attract Cursor users.

Initially, I hesitated to switch, assuming Windsurf needed more time to mature. However, recent changes in Cursor’s performance pushed me to reconsider:

  • After exhausting my 500 fast requests with premium models, I was left with increasingly slow response times
  • The slow requests became genuinely slow and often buggy
  • Incomplete solutions would sometimes mess up files
  • The revert feature didn’t always work smoothly

Community Opinions and Performance #

The community is divided on IDE choice:

  • Some believe that Cursor’s unlimited slow requests are still valuable
  • Others point out that while Windsurf’s Cascade Base isn’t marketed as a premium model, it performs remarkably close to premium models while being both fast and unlimited - making it more practical than Cursor’s slow premium requests

After extensive use of various Cursor models, I settled on Claude 3.5 Sonnet for most tasks. cursor-small proved inadequate for my needs. When I tried Cascade Base, I was genuinely impressed - while not quite matching Claude 3.5 Sonnet, it came remarkably close for routine tasks.

The Value Proposition #

Windsurf offers:

  • 500 premium model prompts (Claude 3.5 Sonnet or GPT-4)
  • Unlimited Cascade Base (powered by Meta’s Llama 3.1 70B)

Cursor provides:

  • Multiple models
  • 500 fast premium requests
  • Unlimited slow requests
  • Option to use custom API keys

Cost Comparison #

  • Windsurf: $15 for their basic paid plan
  • Cursor: $20 for their basic paid plan

While pricing could change, Windsurf’s current offering of fast unlimited prompts with their Cascade Base model makes it more attractive for my workflow.

What Could Change My Mind? #

The real magic happens in the AI models - these IDEs primarily make them more accessible and cost-efficient. Several factors could influence future choices:

  • Context size changes
  • Request/step limits
  • Available models
  • Pricing adjustments

The editor itself is VSCodium in both cases. Importantly for my workflow, Windsurf has now added WSL support in version 1.1.0 - this was a crucial feature for me since most of my development work happens in WSL.

Looking Ahead: Open Source Future? #

With VSCodium being open-source and powerful models like Meta’s Llama 3.1 70B already available as open-source alternatives to proprietary AI models, we might soon see strong open-source alternatives to both Cursor and Windsurf. This could lead to:

  • More competition between IDE providers
  • Better pricing and less greediness from vendors

Conclusion #

For most regular software development tasks, Windsurf currently offers the most cost-effective solution. However, your mileage may vary based on specific needs:

  • If you need multiple models, Cursor might be better
  • If you want to use your own API keys, stick with Cursor
  • If you value unlimited fast prompts with Windsurf’s Cascade Base model, try Windsurf

Supporting multiple tools helps prevent monopoly and keeps prices competitive. Since neither tool is fully open-source (except for the VSCodium base), maintaining healthy competition benefits the entire developer community.

What’s your experience with these tools? Which IDE do you prefer? While I don’t have a comments section here, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Reddit or other platforms where this post is shared.