Windsurf. The context awareness is superior compared to cursor. It falls over less and is better at retrieving relevant snippets of code. The premium plan is cheaper too, which is a nice touch.
Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
161–170 of 410 posts
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#162Neither? I'm surprised nobody has said it yet. I turned off AI autocomplete, and sometimes use the chat to debug or generate simple code but only when I prompt it to. Continuous autocomplete is just annoying and slows me down.
I thought Cursor was dumb and useless too when I was just using autocomplete.
It's the "agent chat" on the sidebar that is where it really shines.
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#163I'm not sure the answer matters so much. My guess is that as soon as one of them gains any notable advantage over the other, the other will copy it as quickly as possible. They're using the same models under the hood.
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
Approximately how much does it cost in practice to use Aider? My understanding is that Aider itself is free, but you have to pay per token when using an API key for your LLM of choice. I can look up for myself the prices of the various LLMs, but it doesn't help much, since I have no intuition whatsoever about how many tokens I am likely to consume. The attraction of something like Zed or Cursor for me is that I just…
I'm using Gemini 2.5 Pro with Aider and Cline for work. I'd say when working for 8 full hours without any meetings or other interruptions, I'd hit around $2. In practice, I average at $0.50 and hit $1 once in the last weeks.
I'd be really keen to know more about what you're using it for, how you typically prompt it, and how many times you're reaching for it. I've had some success at keeping spend low but can also easily spend $4 from a single prompt so I don't tend to use tools like Aider much. I'd be much more likely to use them if I knew I could reliably keep the spend down.
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#165best thing about cursor is $20 and u basically get unlimited requests. I know you get “slower” after a certain amount of requests but honestly you dont feel it being slow and reasoning models are taking so much to answer, so anyways you send the prompt and go doing other stuff, so the slowness i dont think it matters and basically unlimited compute u know?
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#166Asking HN this is like asking which smartphone to use. You'll get suggestions for obscure Linux-based modular phones that weigh 6 kilos and lack a clock app or wifi. But they're better because they're open source or fully configurable or whatever. Or a smartphone that a fellow HNer created in his basement and plans to sell soon. Cursor and Windsurf are both good, but do what most people do and use Cursor for a month…
haha so on point! In the HN world, backend are written in Rust with formal proof and frontend are in pure JS and maybe Web Components. In the real world however, a lot of people are using different tech
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#167pycharm + augment code + Gemini/Claude to generate the prompt for augment code.
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#168How about Cursor vs. Windsurf vs. (Claude Desktop + MCP)?
Haven't tried out Cursor / Windsurf yet, but I can see how I can adapt Claude Desktop to specifically my workflow with a custom MCP server.
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#169Lately I switched to using a triple monitor setup and coding with both Cursor and Windsurf. Basically, the middle monitor has my web browser that shows the front-end I'm building. The left monitor has Cursor, and right one has Windsurf. I start coding with Cursor first because I'm more familiar with its interface, then I ask Windsurf to check if the code is good. If it is, then I commit. Once I'm done coding a featur…
Why not just write a script that does this but with all of the model providers and requests multiple completions from each? Why have a whole ass editor open just for code review?
It's not just an "editor". Both Windsurf and Cursor do some tricks with context so that the underlying LLM doesn't get confused. Besides, writing a script sounds hard, no need to spend the extra energy when you can simply open a tool. Anyway, that's how I code, feel free to do whatever you prefer.
Re: Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't dispite Zed is great, I actually am using it myself, but it's an editor first and foremost. The OP, to me at least seems to be asking more-so about the AI agent comparisons.
Cursor and Windsurf are both forks of VS Code, an editor.
Yes very observant, modified forks with their agents built in. Zed does not have any built in, sublime does not have agents built in but if you like you can continue this disingenuous discussion.