Cursor vs. Windsurf: Why We Stuck With Cursor in 2026
TL;DR
- •Windsurf (by Codeium) has great context awareness ("Flow") but feels less polished as a pure editor.
- •Cursor wins on "Composer" functionality—multi-file editing is simply faster and more reliable.
- •Windsurf is better for "zero-shot" understanding of large existing codebases.
- •Verdict: Use Cursor if you are building (writing code). Use Windsurf if you are exploring (reading code).
The Titans of AI Editing
For a long time, it was just VS Code + Copilot. Then Cursor changed the game by forking VS Code. Now, Windsurf (from Codeium) has entered the ring with its own "Cascade" engine.
We spent 30 days building a production Next.js app with Windsurf to see if it could dethrone Cursor. Here is what we found.
1. The "Context" Battle
Windsurf: Its "Flow" technology is impressive. It indexes your codebase deeply. You can ask "Where is the user validation logic?" and it usually finds it, even if you didn't tag the file. It feels deeper.
Cursor: Relies more on you. You need to use @files or .cursorrules to guide it. However, when guided, Cursor is more precise. Windsurf sometimes hallucinates connections that aren't there.
Winner: Tie (Windsurf for reading, Cursor for writing).
2. The "Action" Battle (Composer vs Cascade)
This is where the difference lies.
Cursor Composer: It feels like a surgical tool. You say "change this," and it applies a diff. It's fast. The UI is minimal. It feels integrated into the flow of typing.
Windsurf Cascade: It acts more like an agent. "I will now search for file X... I found file X... I am planning edits..." It's chatty. It feels slower. While the "Agentic" approach is cool for big refactors, for daily driving (e.g., "add a prop to this component"), it feels sluggish.
Winner: Cursor.
3. The Ecosystem
Cursor is a fork of VS Code. Windsurf is a fork of VS Code. They both support the entire extension marketplace.
However, Cursor allows you to choose your model (Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, etc.). Windsurf locks you into their proprietary stack (though it's very good). We prefer the flexibility of switching models when one gets "lazy."
My Recommendation
If you are a senior dev working on a new feature, Cursor is still the king. The speed of Composer + Claude 3.5 Sonnet is unmatched.
If you are onboarding onto a massive legacy codebase and just need to navigate/understand it, Windsurf might actually be the better tool for that specific month.
But for us at AppSpark? We are builders. We stick with Cursor.
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About This Content
This article was created by the AppSpark team in collaboration with AI-powered research and writing tools. Our goal is to provide authoritative, accurate, and actionable content that helps developers and founders succeed.
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