Windsurf

Windsurf demo video

Watch Windsurf's official demo to see Windsurf in action before reading our full review.

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Official video by Windsurf via YouTube, embedded for reference. ToolChase does not host or claim this video.

What is Windsurf?

Windsurf (formerly Codeium, renamed Devin Desktop in June 2026) is an AI-native IDE that pushes beyond code completion into true agentic coding. Built on a VS Code foundation, it offers an experience where the AI does not just suggest code, it actively plans, writes, edits, runs, and debugs multi-file changes through its Cascade agent. This agentic approach means you can describe what you want to build in natural language, and Windsurf will reason through the implementation, create or modify multiple files, run terminal commands, and iterate on errors autonomously.

The in-editor agent is Windsurf's core differentiator. Since the June 2026 rebrand the default agent is Devin Local, which shares its harness with the Devin CLI, while the original Cascade agent stays available for existing workflows. Unlike traditional code completion tools that suggest one line at a time, it understands your entire codebase context, plans multi-step changes, executes them across multiple files, and can run tests and fix errors in a feedback loop. It also integrates with your terminal, so it can install packages, run scripts, and manage git operations. Tab autocomplete provides fast inline suggestions for rapid coding, while the chat interface handles larger tasks and codebase questions.

In 2026, Windsurf competes directly with Cursor as an AI-native IDE. The free plan gives a light agent quota with limited model choice, plus unlimited Tab completions and inline edits, so it is easy to try without commitment. Pro at $20/mo raises the daily and weekly quota, unlocks the full model list including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google frontier models, and adds the Devin Cloud agents. Max at $200/mo buys a much larger weekly allowance with no daily cap; it is capacity, not better models. Windsurf's advantages over Cursor include a more generous free tier and strong agentic capabilities. Its disadvantages: as a newer product, it has a smaller community, less third-party documentation, and occasionally loses context on very large codebases. For developers who want an affordable AI IDE with genuine agentic capabilities and are comfortable with a VS Code-based environment, Windsurf is a compelling option.

Windsurf Pricing

Free, $0, a light agent quota, limited model availability, and unlimited Tab completions and inline edits. This is a real free plan, not a trial. Good for evaluation and light use.

Pro, $20/mo, a larger daily and weekly quota, the full model list including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google frontier models, free use of SWE-1.7 and leading open source models, access to the Devin Cloud agents, and extra usage billed at API list prices once the quota runs out.

Max, $200/mo, everything in Pro with a significantly larger weekly quota and no daily cap. It buys capacity, not better models, which makes it poor value unless you genuinely exhaust Pro.

Teams, $80/mo account minimum plus $40/mo per full developer seat, unlimited members, shared on-demand credits, centralized billing, an admin dashboard and priority support. Flex seats cost nothing but draw on the shared credit pool and do not include the desktop app. SSO is no longer included and is now Enterprise only.

Enterprise, custom pricing, billed in Agent Compute Units, adds SAML/OIDC SSO, centralized admin controls and deployment in your own virtual private cloud.

Prices are monthly list prices in USD. Since March 2026 the self-serve plans are quota based (a daily and weekly allowance measured in model tokens) rather than credit based, so nothing on a paid plan is truly "unlimited" except Tab completions and inline edits. Subscribers from before the change keep grandfathered rates ($15/mo Pro, $30/seat Teams).

Key Features

• Devin Local and Cascade agents, autonomous in-editor coding agents that plan, write, edit, run, and debug multi-file changes from natural language descriptions, with Devin Local the default since the June 2026 rebrand
• Multi-file agentic editing, makes coordinated changes across multiple files simultaneously, understanding how changes in one file affect others
• Deep codebase understanding, indexes and reasons about your entire project structure, dependencies, and patterns for contextually relevant suggestions
• Terminal execution, Cascade can run terminal commands, install packages, execute scripts, and handle build processes autonomously
• Git integration, manages git operations including staging changes, creating commits, and handling branches through the AI agent
• Tab autocomplete, fast, context-aware inline code suggestions for rapid coding, similar to GitHub Copilot but with deeper project understanding
• Natural language coding, describe features, bug fixes, or refactoring in plain English and let Cascade implement them across your codebase
• VS Code foundation, built on VS Code, so all extensions, keybindings, themes, and settings from your VS Code setup work immediately
• Error detection & fix loop, automatically detects errors after making changes, runs tests, and iterates to fix issues without manual intervention
• Multi-model support, switch between AI models (SWE-1.7, Claude Opus 5, GPT-6 Astra, Gemini 3.7 Flash and others) based on the task, though model choice is restricted on the free plan

Pros & Cons

Best For

Developers wanting an affordable AI IDE with genuine agentic capabilities for multi-file coding tasks and automated debugging. VS Code users looking for deeper AI integration than GitHub Copilot provides while keeping their familiar editor environment. Solo developers and freelancers who need an AI coding partner for full-stack development without a team. Teams evaluating AI IDEs who want to try agentic coding with a generous free tier before committing to a paid plan.