A agentindex
Comparison

Windsurf vs Zed (AI)

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

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

Zed (AI)

The high-performance editor with built-in AI.

  • + Exceptional editor performance
  • + Open source editor core
  • − AGPL deters some commercial embedding
  • − AI features still maturing vs Cursor
Spec Windsurf Zed (AI)
Category coding-agent coding-agent
License Proprietary AGPL-3.0
Open source No Yes
Self-hostable No No
MCP support Yes Yes
Pricing freemium freemium
Starting price $15/mo Free; BYOK for models
Models claude, gpt, gemini, custom claude, gpt, gemini, byok
Languages multi rust
GitHub stars — 85.9k
Last activity — 2026-06-25