Windsurf
Windsurf
AI-native code editor built by Codeium, launched November 2024. VS Code fork (same model as cursor) with a native AI agent called Cascade. Rebranded from Codeium to Windsurf in April 2025. The company was subsequently acquired by Cognition AI (makers of Devin) in July 2025 after a high-profile three-way split between OpenAI, Google, and Cognition.
Cascade
Cascade is Windsurf's built-in agentic AI. Unlike a simple chat assistant, Cascade maintains state across an entire task — reading files, writing multi-file edits, running terminal commands, and iterating on errors without losing context between steps. Windsurf calls this approach "Flows": the agent tracks the full task lifecycle rather than treating each prompt as isolated.
Key Cascade behaviors:
- Multi-file edits with diff review
- Terminal command execution with stdout/stderr feedback
- Context maintained across the full session, not just the current message
- Understands the codebase via Codemaps — AI-annotated visual navigation of file and symbol relationships
Proprietary Models
Windsurf ships its own model family (SWE-1 series). SWE-1.5 is benchmarked at 13× faster inference than Claude Sonnet 4.5 for code tasks. Fast context retrieval via SWE-grep runs approximately 10× faster than standard retrieval approaches. Third-party frontier models (Claude, GPT) are also available in Pro tiers.
Pricing
- Free: 25 credits/month
- Pro: $15/month (500 credits)
- Teams: $30/user/month
- Enterprise: $60/user/month
Credits are consumed per model call; heavier models cost more credits per request.
Acquisition History
The company's ownership changed rapidly in July 2025:
- OpenAI announced a ~$3B acquisition that collapsed over concerns Microsoft (OpenAI's largest backer) would inherit Windsurf's IP under its existing OpenAI licensing terms.
- Google paid $2.4B to license Windsurf's underlying technology and hired CEO Varun Mohan and other key leadership into Google DeepMind.
- Cognition AI acquired the remaining company — product, IP, brand, and ~$82M ARR — to fold it into the Devin ecosystem.
The product continues to operate under the Windsurf brand post-acquisition.
Vs. Cursor and Claude Code
Windsurf and cursor occupy the same category: VS Code fork with agentic AI. Windsurf differentiates with Codemaps, proprietary fast models, and a lower Pro price point ($15 vs $20). cursor has a larger install base and more mature codebase indexing.
claude-code differs fundamentally: it is a terminal agent, not an IDE. Better for unattended sessions, scripting, and pipeline integration. Windsurf is better when you want inline diffs and IDE-native review.
Related
cursor · claude-code · amp-code · agentic-workflows · vibe-coding