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It's a split decision.
Windsurf is a command center for coordinating agents across local and cloud sessions, with ACP support, subagents and local-to-cloud handoffs. Cursor is a coding agent available in a desktop app and CLI, with cloud agents, Slack and GitHub workflows. Windsurf Pro starts at $20 per month; Cursor’s listed coding features begin on Premium at $30, while its $8 Plus plan is limited to Grok models. Pick based on workflow and model access, not the entry price alone.
01Side by side
| Windsurf | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pro $20/month; Max $200; Teams base $80 plus seats | Plus $8; Premium $30; Teams starts at $30/user |
| Free tier | Light agent quota; unlimited inline edits and Tab completions | Limited agent requests and Chat requests |
| Agent workflow | Coordinate agents; delegate subagents that open PRs | Agents plan, write, test and demo features |
| Model choice | Frontier and open-source models; Devin Fusion pairs models | OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, SpaceXAI and Composer |
| Deployment model | Run locally or in cloud; hand off with context | Desktop and CLI; cloud agents run in parallel |
| Integrations | Slack, Teams, Linear, Notion, Atlassian, Datadog and more | Slack, GitHub, terminal and model providers |
| Platforms | Web and macOS | macOS, web, CLI and Slack |
| Limits and scaling | Quota tiers; extra usage billed at API pricing | Usage multipliers by plan; top-offs available |
Windsurf Choose Windsurf if
- Choose Windsurf if… you coordinate multiple agents from one command center.
- Choose Windsurf if… local-to-cloud handoffs need to retain session context.
- Choose Windsurf if… you want ACP support and subagents opening PRs.
Cursor Choose Cursor if
- Choose Cursor if… you want a coding agent in a desktop app and CLI.
- Choose Cursor if… Slack and GitHub are central to your review workflow.
- Choose Cursor if… parallel cloud agents and usage top-offs fit your workload.
02Pricing at real usage
Both products list a free plan, but neither gives a numeric free-tier quota. Windsurf Free includes a light agent quota, limited model availability, unlimited inline edits and unlimited Tab completions. Pro is $20 per month, Max is $200, and Teams costs $80 per month plus $40 per full developer seat. Extra usage beyond a plan quota is billed at API pricing.
Cursor Free has limited agent and Chat requests. Its pricing page lists Plus at $8 per month, but that plan is described as limited to Grok models; Premium is $30 and includes cloud agents and automations. Super is $100 and Ultra is $200, with usage stated as 15x and 50x Plus, respectively. Cursor Teams starts at $30 per user per month. Third-party models are billed separately at API list price, and usage top-offs are available. The pages list monthly prices, with no annual discount shown.
03API, SDKs and integration
Windsurf’s named control protocol is ACP: it lets developers manage agents and models from one command center. The product also lists integrations such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Linear, Notion, Atlassian, Datadog, Sentry, Figma, Vercel and Stripe, alongside language tools including rust-analyzer, Prettier, clangd, Pyright and gopls. Fast Context search and Devin Review are part of its agent workflow.
Cursor’s listed surfaces are its desktop app, a CLI installed with a curl command, Slack and GitHub. Its agents can open or review pull requests, and its homepage lists model providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and SpaceXAI, plus Cursor’s Composer. Cursor’s pricing page separately lists Grok API access on Plus and third-party model billing at API list price. Neither product page describes a language-specific SDK for embedding its coding agent in an application; confirm API access and supported SDKs with the vendor if that is your integration path.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
Neither vendor publishes an open-source license or a self-hosting option for these products on its product page. Windsurf is described as running agents locally or in the cloud, but that does not establish that the service itself can be self-hosted. Cursor offers a desktop app, CLI and cloud agents; those deployment options are not a self-hosting claim either.
The product pages do not describe a data export path for sessions, prompts, indexes or agent history. Before adopting either tool across a team, ask the vendor what can be exported, in what format, and whether that includes cloud-agent work and review data. Both workflows can involve vendor-specific agent sessions and model access, so plan to preserve source code and pull requests in your existing repositories and verify how much session context can move if you switch tools.
Questions people ask
Is Windsurf or Cursor better for multi-agent coding?
Windsurf is built around coordinating agents in one command center and can split long tasks into subagents that each produce a pull request. Cursor’s homepage describes cloud agents working in parallel for hours or days. Choose based on whether you need centralized coordination and local-to-cloud handoffs or parallel cloud work.
Can Windsurf and Cursor run agents locally and in the cloud?
Windsurf explicitly supports local and cloud sessions, with handoffs that retain context. Cursor offers a desktop app and CLI, as well as cloud agents that can run in parallel. Its product page does not describe a local-to-cloud handoff with the same context.
Which product is cheaper for coding agents?
Windsurf Pro is listed at $20 per month. Cursor’s $8 Plus plan is limited to Grok models, while its Premium plan with cloud agents costs $30 per month. Compare the models and features your workflow requires; the lowest listed price is not a direct comparison of equivalent coding plans.
Do Windsurf and Cursor have team plans?
Yes. Windsurf Teams has an $80 monthly base plus $40 per full developer seat, and supports up to 200 users. Cursor Teams starts at $30 per user per month and lists centralized billing and administration, SAML/OIDC SSO and team-wide privacy settings.