Updated 27 March 2026
Cursor vs Windsurf Pricing
Windsurf is $5/month cheaper and has a better free tier. Cursor gives you model choice and BYOK. For most developers, the $5 difference is irrelevant - pick the editor you prefer.
Plan Comparison
| Plan | Cursor | Windsurf | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (2,000 completions/mo, 50 slow requests) | $0 (more generous completions + chat) | Windsurf's free tier gives more usage for casual developers |
| Pro | $20/mo (500 fast + unlimited slow requests) | $15/mo (generous fast + unlimited slow) | Cursor costs $5 more but offers BYOK and model choice |
| Business/Team | $40/seat/mo (admin controls, SSO, usage analytics) | Team pricing available (contact sales) | Cursor has more mature team features |
| Annual savings | $192/yr ($16/mo billed annually) | ~$144/yr (estimated annual pricing) | Both offer ~20% discount for annual billing |
Usage Limits
| Feature | Cursor Pro | Windsurf Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Fast completions (Pro) | 500/month | Varies (generous allocation) |
| Slow completions (Pro) | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Chat messages (Pro) | Unlimited (model-dependent) | Generous allocation |
| Agentic requests (Pro) | Limited (Composer uses fast requests) | Cascade included in allocation |
| Bring your own API key | Yes - unlimited at your cost | Limited BYOK support |
| Model selection | GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet/Opus, Gemini | Primarily Codeium proprietary models |
The BYOK Advantage
Cursor's bring-your-own-key feature is its biggest pricing differentiator. If you have an Anthropic or OpenAI API key, you can use Cursor with unlimited requests at API cost (typically $0.003-$0.015 per request). Heavy users who exceed 500 fast requests/month can save money this way. Windsurf does not offer equivalent BYOK flexibility, so you are constrained to their quotas.
For a developer making 2,000 requests/month, BYOK on Cursor costs roughly $30-$60/month in API fees (on top of the $20/month plan). That is more expensive than Windsurf Pro ($15/month), but you get unlimited usage and model choice. It is a trade-off between cost certainty and flexibility.