A agentindex
Comparison

Cline vs Windsurf

A like-for-like, spec-level comparison. Both entries are verified against their docs and repo.

Cline

Autonomous coding agent inside VS Code, with approval gates.

  • + Approval gates make autonomous edits safe
  • + Runs inside the editor you already use
  • − VS Code only
  • − Token-heavy on large tasks

Windsurf

Codeium's AI-native IDE (Cascade agent).

  • + Strong agentic flow in-editor
  • + Generous free tier from Codeium
  • − Closed source
  • − Competes directly with Cursor on a narrow wedge
Spec Cline Windsurf
Category coding-agent coding-agent
License Apache-2.0 Proprietary
Open source Yes No
Self-hostable Yes No
MCP support Yes Yes
Pricing free freemium
Starting price BYOK usage cost $15/mo
Models claude, gpt, gemini, byok claude, gpt, gemini, custom
Languages typescript multi
GitHub stars 63.9k —
Last activity 2026-06-25 —