Windsurf AI IDE Review: Is It Worth Switching from Cursor

TL;DR Windsurf is Codeium’s ambitious entry into the AI IDE space, positioning itself as a direct Cursor competitor with its “Flow” agentic coding system. After extensive testing, here’s the verdict: Windsurf excels at multi-file refactoring and context awareness but falls short on extension ecosystem maturity. Key Strengths: Flow mode handles complex tasks like migrating Express.js to Fastify across 15+ files with minimal supervision Cascade context engine automatically pulls relevant files—tested with a 50k-line Terraform monorepo and it correctly identified dependencies Free tier is genuinely usable (unlimited basic completions vs. Cursor’s 2000 completions/month) Terminal integration executes commands directly: npm install, docker-compose up, pytest tests/ Critical Weaknesses: ...

February 21, 2026 · 9 min · The AI Dev

Cursor vs GitHub Copilot vs Windsurf: Which AI IDE Wins in 2026

TL;DR - 3-sentence verdict covering which tool wins for different developer profiles (solo devs, teams, specific languages/frameworks) Cursor dominates for solo developers and startups who prioritize speed and contextual awareness—its multi-file editing with Cmd+K and codebase-wide understanding via @Codebase makes refactoring React components or migrating Django models 3x faster than competitors. GitHub Copilot remains the enterprise standard for teams already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, offering unmatched integration with Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions workflows, and corporate compliance frameworks. Windsurf emerges as the dark horse for full-stack developers working across TypeScript/Node.js backends and Next.js frontends, with its Cascade feature excelling at coordinating changes across API routes, database schemas, and frontend components simultaneously. ...

February 21, 2026 · 10 min · The AI Dev