Claude Code vs Windsurf: Side-by-Side Comparison 2026
Claude Code vs Windsurf comparison 2026. Side-by-side features, pricing & capabilities.
| Feature | Claude Code | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Agent | AI IDE |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| Model Family | Claude | Multi-model |
| Context Window | 200K (Haiku) / 1M (Sonnet, Opus beta) | Varies by model (up to 2M with Gemini) |
| Code Completion | ✓ | ✓ |
| Chat | ✓ | ✓ |
| Inline Editing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Agentic Mode | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-File Editing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Terminal Commands | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser Use | ✗ | ✗ |
| Test Generation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Debugging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Refactoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Code Review | ✓ | ✓ |
| PR Review | ✓ | ✗ |
| Documentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Image to Code | ✗ | ✗ |
| Voice Input | ✗ | ✗ |
| App Generation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Deployment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Git Integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supported IDEs | VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, Terminal | Windsurf (VS Code fork), JetBrains plugins |
| Open Source | No | No |
Pricing verified 2026-02-05. Claude Code pricing | Windsurf pricing
Overview
Claude Code is ai agent from Anthropic. Windsurf is ai ide from Codeium. Both tools are actively maintained as of 2026.
Claude Code: What You Get
Anthropic's CLI tool that brings Claude directly into your terminal for agentic coding — it can read, edit, and create files autonomously.
- Agentic file editing
- Terminal integration
- Git operations
- Multi-file refactoring
- Code review
- Test writing
Pricing: Free / $20/mo. 7 plans available.
Models: Claude Opus 4.6, Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Haiku 4.5
Windsurf: What You Get
AI-first IDE with Cascade — an agentic assistant that understands your codebase and makes multi-file changes. Also available as Windsurf Plugin for VS Code and JetBrains.
- Cascade agentic AI
- Code completions
- Multi-file editing
- Terminal integration
- Codebase search
- Windsurf Plugin for other editors
Pricing: Free / $15/mo. 4 plans available.
Models: Claude Sonnet 3.7, Claude Opus 4.5, GPT-5.2-Codex, Cascade, Gemini, DeepSeek
Key Differences
- Category: Claude Code is ai agent, Windsurf is ai ide.
- Model family: Claude Code uses Claude; Windsurf uses Multi-model.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Claude Code if you want Autonomous multi-file changes with full codebase understanding. Choose Windsurf if you want Cascade agent makes autonomous multi-step changes. Both tools are strong options — the right choice depends on your workflow and priorities.
Stay in the loop
Get weekly insights on the best AI coding tools, tips, and tutorials.
Newsletter coming soon. Unsubscribe anytime.