Windsurf vs Continue (2026)
A head-to-head comparison to help you pick the right tool
Windsurf
Windsurf is an AI-first code editor by Codeium that competes directly with Cursor, offering agentic AI coding capabilities.
Get Pricing →Continue
Continue is an open-source AI code assistant that integrates into VS Code and JetBrains, letting you use any LLM as your coding assistant.
Get Pricing →Pros
- ✓Strong agentic coding features
- ✓Competitive with Cursor
- ✓Built on VS Code
- ✓Good free tier
Cons
- ✗Newer product still maturing
- ✗Smaller community than Cursor
- ✗Some features still in development
Pros
- ✓Open source and free
- ✓Use any LLM including local models
- ✓Good IDE integration
- ✓Privacy-friendly local model option
Cons
- ✗Requires LLM API keys
- ✗Less polished than Copilot
- ✗Setup required
Our Take
Choose Windsurf if developers wanting a cursor alternative with agentic ai coding. Choose Continue if privacy-conscious developers who want to use their own llm with ai coding assistance.