What is Windsurf?
Windsurf (originally Codeium) is a code editor built from the ground up around AI, not an extension bolted onto an existing editor: the entire workflow, from autocompletion to multi-file editing, is designed for natural interaction with an AI assistant built into the editor's core.
After being acquired by Cognition (the same company behind the Devin agent) and integrating advanced coding models, Windsurf climbed rapidly in industry rankings, surpassing more established competitors like Cursor and GitHub Copilot in some evaluations.
Main Features
- Cascade: agentic mode that plans and executes changes across multiple files autonomously
- Contextual autocompletion: suggests code based on the entire open project, not just the current file
- Built-in chat: direct conversation with the AI about the code, without leaving the editor
- Whole-codebase understanding: indexes the project to give accurate contextual answers
- AI-powered integrated terminal: suggests commands and explains their output
- Multi-language support: works across virtually all common programming languages
How Does Windsurf Work?
You write code normally and the AI suggests completions based on the context of the whole project, not just the open file. For bigger changes, Cascade mode lets you describe a goal ("add OAuth authentication to this project") and lets the AI plan and execute the necessary changes across multiple files.
After integrating Cognition's technology, Windsurf gained more solid agentic capabilities, allowing more complex development tasks to be delegated beyond simple line-by-line autocompletion.
Who is Windsurf for?
- Developers wanting an editor natively designed for AI, not a bolted-on extension
- Teams working on large codebases who want broader AI context
- Those looking for an alternative to Cursor or VS Code with Copilot
- Developers who want to delegate complex multi-file changes
- Technical teams following industry rankings to pick the top-performing tool
Use Cases
- Implementing a feature touching multiple files at once
- Getting code suggestions based on the whole project's context
- AI-guided refactoring across large portions of a codebase
- Asking for explanations of how undocumented existing code works
- Using the integrated terminal with AI suggestions for commands to run
Pricing
Windsurf offers a free plan with basic features and a limited number of premium AI requests per month. Paid plans unlock more requests, access to more advanced models and extended Cascade features, with a monthly price per user.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Natively built around AI, not an extension added to an existing editor
- Cascade enables more solid autonomous multi-file changes than average
- Climbed rapidly in industry rankings after the Cognition acquisition
Cons:
- Switching editors involves an adjustment curve for those coming from plain VS Code
- The most advanced features remain behind paid plans
- Extension ecosystem still smaller than traditional VS Code
Final Verdict
Windsurf is today one of the strongest choices for those wanting an editor designed for AI from the ground up, with agentic capabilities that, after the Cognition acquisition, compete on equal footing with Cursor. Worth trying especially for those often working on complex multi-file changes.