Windsurf — AI Code Editor by Codeium
Windsurf — AI Code Editor
Section titled “Windsurf — AI Code Editor”Windsurf (formerly the flagship product of Codeium) is an AI-native code editor built as a VS Code fork, designed to feel fast and lightweight while giving the AI deep awareness of your entire project. Its standout feature is Cascade, a multi-file agentic editing mode.
What Makes Windsurf Different
Section titled “What Makes Windsurf Different”Windsurf focuses on “being in flow” — the AI feels like a junior developer sitting next to you who deeply understands your project, rather than a tool you have to prompt carefully.
Key differentiators:
- Cascade — the most context-aware multi-file agent (tracks every edit you make)
- Supercomplete — goes beyond line-by-line autocomplete; predicts entire edit sequences
- Flow — the AI understands the why behind your changes, not just the what
- Fast — known for low latency autocomplete
Core Features
Section titled “Core Features”Cascade (Agentic Editing)
Section titled “Cascade (Agentic Editing)”Cascade is Windsurf’s multi-step AI agent. Unlike Cursor’s Composer, Cascade:
- Automatically detects what has changed in your codebase since the last interaction
- Applies changes across multiple files while tracking context
- Can run terminal commands (tests, build, linting) and react to output
- Shows a continuous action log so you always see what it’s doing
Supercomplete
Section titled “Supercomplete”Windsurf’s autocomplete predicts not just the next line but the next several edits based on your flow:
- Learns from your recent edits (not just cursor position)
- Suggests changes in other parts of the file that logically follow
- Very low latency — designed to not interrupt your typing flow
Chat is codebase-aware:
@file,@folder,@codebasereferences- Ask questions about any part of the project
- Request changes that Cascade can then implement
Write Mode vs Chat Mode
Section titled “Write Mode vs Chat Mode”| Mode | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Chat | Discuss, explain, plan — no code changes |
| Write | Cascade actively edits files, runs commands |
- Download from windsurf.com
- Sign in — free account available
- Import VS Code extensions/settings (one-click migration)
- Choose your model (Claude 3.7 or GPT-4o by default)
| Plan | Price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited Cascade flows, Supercomplete, chat |
| Pro | $15/month | More flows, advanced models, priority |
| Teams | $30/user/month | Admin features, team billing |
| Enterprise | Custom | On-prem options, SSO, compliance |
Windsurf vs Cursor vs Claude Code
Section titled “Windsurf vs Cursor vs Claude Code”| Feature | Windsurf | Cursor | Claude Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic editing | Cascade | Composer | Full terminal agent |
| Autocomplete quality | Supercomplete (excellent) | Tab (excellent) | N/A (CLI) |
| Context tracking | Continuous (Cascade tracks changes) | Snapshot-based | File-system reads |
| Price | $15/month | $20/month | Via Claude Pro ($20) |
| UI style | Clean, minimal | Feature-rich | Terminal |
| Terminal commands | Yes (Cascade) | Yes (Agent mode) | Yes (primary interface) |
Privacy
Section titled “Privacy”Windsurf offers an enterprise privacy mode where no code leaves your network. The default consumer product processes code through Windsurf’s servers.