{"slug": "windsurf", "name": "Windsurf", "category": "ai-coding", "category_name": "AI coding tools", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 16, "warners": 4, "score": 1.712, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2025-11-26", "latest": "2026-10-06", "why": "Windsurf - $20 gives u access to nearlly all models.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 8, "compare": 1, "warn": 3}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Windsurf - $20 gives u access to nearlly all models.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://windsurf.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Windsurf"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 799652192, "item_id": 49978262, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49978262", "by": "chris_st", "date": "2026-10-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I had personal subscriptions to WebStorm and GoLand and cancelled them not long after getting Windsurf.", "excerpt": "I had personal subscriptions to WebStorm and GoLand and cancelled them not long after getting Windsurf. Just don't need the IDE abilities like I used to... Still use 'go to definition' but that's pretty much it.", "context": "", "use_case": "AI-assisted coding", "switched_from": "WebStorm", "story": "JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025"}, {"id": 794347760, "item_id": 49646735, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49646735", "by": "bluelightning2k", "date": "2026-09-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used to really like Windsurf.", "excerpt": "I like Cognition as a company and hope they succeed. Seemingly excellent engineering org. I used to really like Windsurf. (Now Devin. Kind of? But also now Antigravity.) I still use it as my editor but haven't touched the agent for a while simply due to the rise of Codex.", "context": "", "use_case": "code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cognition launches new SWE-2 model, Rivaling Fable 5.1 and GPT-Astra"}, {"id": 771405921, "item_id": 48212870, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48212870", "by": "williott8411", "date": "2026-05-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Or if your really tight in budget you could try Windsurfs \u201eSWE-1.6\u201c model, currently free for pro users.", "excerpt": "Cursor I guess, not the best one out there but if your coming from antigravity it\u2019s not that much of a difference. Or if your really tight in budget you could try Windsurfs \u201eSWE-1.6\u201c model, currently free for pro users.", "context": "", "use_case": "budget AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Suggest Google Antigravity Alternative"}, {"id": 760038385, "item_id": 47502399, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47502399", "by": "Patt_", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Windsurf - $20 gives u access to nearlly all models.", "excerpt": "Hey man, here's how to properly spend your 50 bucks and get the most bang for the $$: opencode go - $10 a month gets you decent allowance with latest GLM, MiniMax, and Kimi. Windsurf - $20 gives u access to nearlly all models. For me, I'm having these two subscriptions plus: shared Codex plans & shared Kimi coding Allegretto from Chinese resellers for around $10. I only use the Claude Opus/Sonnet inside Windsurf afte", "context": "", "use_case": "budget AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: $50 monthly budget, which coding models would you recommend now?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 794445040, "item_id": 49652815, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49652815", "by": "princevegeta89", "date": "2026-09-11", "stance": "warn", "quote": "they're basically dead for now after they became Devin.", "excerpt": "I used Windsurf for quite long and they're basically dead for now after they became Devin. Everything feels dull and they're always several features behind while Cursor is just killing it every other week. I'm back to VsCode plus Copilot Pro.", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cognition launches new SWE-2 model, Rivaling Fable 5.1 and GPT-Astra"}, {"id": 760202210, "item_id": 47512638, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47512638", "by": "Patt_", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Windsurf has just made a shitty move by changing their pricing structure from credits to rolling window percentages", "excerpt": "It's all over Chinese Taobao. biggest catch would be that all of the sutff is in Chinese, they have an international version in english but if you run into issues and have to talk to the seller, 99% of them don't speak Chinese but with AI translation that won't be a problem. you can even get Claude Code shared plan there as well, what they do is to buy the MAX plan and then have a couple people sharing it, which on a", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: $50 monthly budget, which coding models would you recommend now?"}, {"id": 740493442, "item_id": 46280840, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46280840", "by": "ojr", "date": "2025-12-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Cursor, Windsurf and etc uses too much memory on my machine.", "excerpt": "https://slidebits.com/isogen An AI coding tool desktop application written in Rust and Javascript. Cursor, Windsurf and etc uses too much memory on my machine. As an engineer it is important that the tools I use daily are performant and fast and I could use while watching a youtube video or browse hackernews. While working on the tool I am building some boilerplates to start from, starting with mobile games targeting", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025)"}, {"id": 740169685, "item_id": 46260605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46260605", "by": "devdp430", "date": "2025-12-13", "stance": "warn", "quote": "All of them get overwhelmed when there is something to implement or change in the codebase primarily due to the amount of code.", "excerpt": "I use AI at work. We have a huge codebase in Golang. 1000s of files. I had tried cursor, claude code, gemini cli, openai codex and all sorts of vscode based idea (like windsurf, antigravity etc). All of them get overwhelmed when there is something to implement or change in the codebase primarily due to the amount of code. But I like aider. I had better capabilities and is controllable, you can try. And if you use it ", "context": "huge Golang codebase", "use_case": "coding in large codebase", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How can I get better at using AI for programming?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "Slav_fixflex", "context": "builds software without being a developer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47410694", "date": "2026-03-17"}, {"by": "hummbl-dev", "context": "solo founder", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46061679", "date": "2025-11-26"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["ai coding", "budget ai coding", "ai-assisted coding", "ai coding editor", "main editor", "code editor"], "compared": [{"slug": "cursor", "name": "Cursor", "co": 8, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "claude-code", "name": "Claude Code", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "claude", "name": "Claude", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "antigravity", "name": "Antigravity", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "codex", "name": "Codex", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "visual-studio-code", "name": "Visual Studio Code", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "webstorm", "name": "WebStorm", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "github-copilot", "name": "GitHub Copilot", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49645443", "title": "Cognition launches new SWE-2 model, Rivaling Fable 5.1 and GPT-Astra", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47501690", "title": "Ask HN: $50 monthly budget, which coding models would you recommend now?", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49977072", "title": "JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49740105", "title": "Show HN: Share your AI Setup, Learn from others", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49522896", "title": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (September 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48689028", "title": "Previewing GPT\u20115.6 Sol: a next-generation model", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {"warn": 2}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 3, "recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"compare": 1, "recommend": 1, "neutral": 2, "warn": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 799652192, "item_id": 49978262, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49978262", "by": "chris_st", "date": "2026-10-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I had personal subscriptions to WebStorm and GoLand and cancelled them not long after getting Windsurf.", "excerpt": "I had personal subscriptions to WebStorm and GoLand and cancelled them not long after getting Windsurf. Just don't need the IDE abilities like I used to... Still use 'go to definition' but that's pretty much it.", "context": "", "use_case": "AI-assisted coding", "switched_from": "WebStorm", "story": "JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025"}, {"id": 795884405, "item_id": 49742775, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49742775", "by": "nowittyusername", "date": "2026-09-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I been working and making things with AI agents since Windsurf days", "excerpt": "I been working and making things with AI agents since Windsurf days, here's what works for me after experimenting and working for a while with these things. As far as the agent goes I find whatever the latest OpenAI model is out worked best for me. This company has burned me the least and I like the models. I tried many but consistency of OpenAI models cant be beat IMO. Though we are post honeymoon phase now I feel l", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Share your AI Setup, Learn from others"}, {"id": 794445040, "item_id": 49652815, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49652815", "by": "princevegeta89", "date": "2026-09-11", "stance": "warn", "quote": "they're basically dead for now after they became Devin.", "excerpt": "I used Windsurf for quite long and they're basically dead for now after they became Devin. Everything feels dull and they're always several features behind while Cursor is just killing it every other week. I'm back to VsCode plus Copilot Pro.", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cognition launches new SWE-2 model, Rivaling Fable 5.1 and GPT-Astra"}, {"id": 794366993, "item_id": 49647937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49647937", "by": "PolCPP", "date": "2026-09-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used to use windsurf as my main editor until they changed their pricing model.", "excerpt": "I pay for it (mostly because they grandfathered me from the old prices)! I used to use windsurf as my main editor until they changed their pricing model. Now i use it just to burn my weekly tokens on fable/astra if i remember to that on a task and that's it.", "context": "", "use_case": "main editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cognition launches new SWE-2 model, Rivaling Fable 5.1 and GPT-Astra"}, {"id": 794347760, "item_id": 49646735, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49646735", "by": "bluelightning2k", "date": "2026-09-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used to really like Windsurf.", "excerpt": "I like Cognition as a company and hope they succeed. Seemingly excellent engineering org. I used to really like Windsurf. (Now Devin. Kind of? But also now Antigravity.) I still use it as my editor but haven't touched the agent for a while simply due to the rise of Codex.", "context": "", "use_case": "code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cognition launches new SWE-2 model, Rivaling Fable 5.1 and GPT-Astra"}, {"id": 792544195, "item_id": 49534012, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49534012", "by": "dan_voronov", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "compare", "quote": "AI coding tool evaluations (Cursor, Aider, Cline, Windsurf, etc.)", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve been researching how LLMs generate code since summer 2023. My main public artifact is this repository: https://github.com/danvoronov/CodeWithLLM-Updates It\u2019s a living research collection with 400+ commits covering practical experiments, usage patterns, step-by-step guides, model comparisons, AI coding tool evaluations (Cursor, Aider, Cline, Windsurf, etc.). A large part of my work is *exploratory*: navigating la", "context": "researching LLM code generation since 2023", "use_case": "AI coding tool evaluation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (September 2026)"}, {"id": 779114081, "item_id": 48694630, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48694630", "by": "aleksandrm", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use GPT 5.4 exclusively in Windsurf", "excerpt": "I don't know about Cursor or other outlets, but I use GPT 5.4 exclusively in Windsurf (Sorry, Devin!), and it's a very capable model that doesn't break the bank!.", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Previewing GPT\u20115.6 Sol: a next-generation model"}, {"id": 771405921, "item_id": 48212870, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48212870", "by": "williott8411", "date": "2026-05-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Or if your really tight in budget you could try Windsurfs \u201eSWE-1.6\u201c model, currently free for pro users.", "excerpt": "Cursor I guess, not the best one out there but if your coming from antigravity it\u2019s not that much of a difference. Or if your really tight in budget you could try Windsurfs \u201eSWE-1.6\u201c model, currently free for pro users.", "context": "", "use_case": "budget AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Suggest Google Antigravity Alternative"}, {"id": 760430242, "item_id": 47526890, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47526890", "by": "KIM_Nousra", "date": "2026-03-25", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "windsurf has already switched to the standard billing method.", "excerpt": "windsurf has already switched to the standard billing method. Cursor's self-developed models are quite cost-effective. The most cost-effective one is Codex, the only downside is that it's not good at writing front-end code", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: $50 monthly budget, which coding models would you recommend now?"}, {"id": 760202210, "item_id": 47512638, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47512638", "by": "Patt_", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Windsurf has just made a shitty move by changing their pricing structure from credits to rolling window percentages", "excerpt": "It's all over Chinese Taobao. biggest catch would be that all of the sutff is in Chinese, they have an international version in english but if you run into issues and have to talk to the seller, 99% of them don't speak Chinese but with AI translation that won't be a problem. you can even get Claude Code shared plan there as well, what they do is to buy the MAX plan and then have a couple people sharing it, which on a", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: $50 monthly budget, which coding models would you recommend now?"}, {"id": 760038385, "item_id": 47502399, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47502399", "by": "Patt_", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Windsurf - $20 gives u access to nearlly all models.", "excerpt": "Hey man, here's how to properly spend your 50 bucks and get the most bang for the $$: opencode go - $10 a month gets you decent allowance with latest GLM, MiniMax, and Kimi. Windsurf - $20 gives u access to nearlly all models. For me, I'm having these two subscriptions plus: shared Codex plans & shared Kimi coding Allegretto from Chinese resellers for around $10. I only use the Claude Opus/Sonnet inside Windsurf afte", "context": "", "use_case": "budget AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: $50 monthly budget, which coding models would you recommend now?"}, {"id": 759312912, "item_id": 47457057, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47457057", "by": "jf22", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I thought Windsurf kept memories a little better than Claude.", "excerpt": "I kept a personal license for while because I thought Windsurf kept memories a little better than Claude. But now since I use Claude at work I switched to keep my home and work stacks similar.", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who is still using Windsurf and why?"}, {"id": 758571105, "item_id": 47410694, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47410694", "by": "Slav_fixflex", "date": "2026-03-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use AI agents (Claude, Windsurf) exclusively to build production software", "excerpt": "Interesting findings. I use AI agents (Claude, Windsurf) exclusively to build production software without being a developer myself. Speed is real but so is context drift \u2013 the AI breaks unrelated things while fixing others. Git became essential for me because of this.", "context": "builds software without being a developer", "use_case": "building production software", "switched_from": "", "story": "Speed at the cost of quality: Study of use of Cursor AI in open source projects"}, {"id": 751970914, "item_id": 46998182, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46998182", "by": "byb", "date": "2026-02-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It handles Windsurf as well.", "excerpt": "Embrace cheap hardware. CachyOS on a 200-300 USD Intel n100 tablet with a wired or wireless keyboard of your choice is my go-to recommendation these days. I have one connected to a 4k display and it handles 4k YouTube just fine. It handles Windsurf as well. By comparison, Debian 13 could not handle 4k video and Windsurf overtaxed the system, causing write access errors. https://www.chuwi.com/product/items/Chuwi-hi10-", "context": "", "use_case": "AI code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Now Assume That All Ads on Apple News Are Scams"}, {"id": 740493442, "item_id": 46280840, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46280840", "by": "ojr", "date": "2025-12-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Cursor, Windsurf and etc uses too much memory on my machine.", "excerpt": "https://slidebits.com/isogen An AI coding tool desktop application written in Rust and Javascript. Cursor, Windsurf and etc uses too much memory on my machine. As an engineer it is important that the tools I use daily are performant and fast and I could use while watching a youtube video or browse hackernews. While working on the tool I am building some boilerplates to start from, starting with mobile games targeting", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025)"}, {"id": 740169685, "item_id": 46260605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46260605", "by": "devdp430", "date": "2025-12-13", "stance": "warn", "quote": "All of them get overwhelmed when there is something to implement or change in the codebase primarily due to the amount of code.", "excerpt": "I use AI at work. We have a huge codebase in Golang. 1000s of files. I had tried cursor, claude code, gemini cli, openai codex and all sorts of vscode based idea (like windsurf, antigravity etc). All of them get overwhelmed when there is something to implement or change in the codebase primarily due to the amount of code. But I like aider. I had better capabilities and is controllable, you can try. And if you use it ", "context": "huge Golang codebase", "use_case": "coding in large codebase", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How can I get better at using AI for programming?"}, {"id": 736986867, "item_id": 46061679, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46061679", "by": "hummbl-dev", "date": "2025-11-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Treated Claude, ChatGPT, Windsurf, and Cursor as team members with defined roles.", "excerpt": "Sharing a case study from building HUMMBL\u2014a systematic mental models framework for complex problem-solving. The meta-recursive twist: I used the framework's own models to architect, validate, and deploy it. Key technical decisions: 1. 6 transformations, not categories: Perspective, Inversion, Composition, Decomposition, Recursion, Systems. Every model maps to exactly one. 2. Base-N scaling: Base6 for literacy, Base42", "context": "solo founder", "use_case": "multi-agent development", "switched_from": "", "story": "I built a 120-model mental models framework using the framework itself"}]}