Claude Code vs Windsurf
Claude Code and Windsurf side by side: what each one is, verified plan pricing and install commands where we have them, and the full review of each.
Claude Code
Daily DriverAnthropic's agentic coding CLI. Runs in your terminal, edits files autonomously, spawns sub-agents, and maintains memory across sessions. Defaults to Claude Opus 5.5 on paid plans as of October 2026.
Windsurf
AI-native IDE built by Codeium, acquired by Cognition in 2025 and renamed Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026. Devin Local, the agent that succeeded Cascade, handles multi-file edits. Free plan; Pro is $20/mo.
At a glance
| Field | | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI Coding | AI Coding |
| Website | docs.anthropic.com | windsurf.com |
| Pricing | Pro - $20/mo, or $17/mo billed annually ($200 up front): includes Claude Code; Max - $100/mo (5x Pro usage) or $200/mo (20x Pro usage), plus $100 to $200/mo in API credits; Team - Standard seat $20/seat/mo billed annually ($25 monthly); Premium seat $100/seat/mo billed annually ($125 monthly); 2 to 150 seats; Enterprise - $20/seat/mo billed annually, 20 seat minimum, plus usage at API rates; Console (API key) - pay per token at Anthropic API rates; Free claude.ai plan - does not include Claude Code | No separate Windsurf plan - windsurf.com/pricing redirects to devin.ai/pricing, and the editor is sold as Devin Desktop on Devin's plans (see the Devin tool page or /coding-agent-plans/devin) |
| Install | curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash or brew install --cask claude-code or npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code | sudo apt install devin-desktop or sudo dnf install -y devin-desktop |
| Models | Defaults to Claude Opus 5.5 on Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise, and the Anthropic API (Sonnet 4.5 on Microsoft Foundry). Switch with /model, claude --model, or ANTHROPIC_MODEL using the opus, sonnet, haiku, and fable aliases (Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Haiku 5.5, Fable 5.1 on the Anthropic API) or a full model name; Fable is never the default and must be picked explicitly. | Pick a model from the dropdown under the agent input: Cognition's SWE-2 and SWE-1.7, Claude Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, and Fable 5.1, GPT-6 Astra, Sol, and Luna, Gemini 4 Argon, Kimi K3, GLM-5.3, or the Adaptive router. Cognition recommends Fusion, which pairs a frontier lead model with a cheaper sidekick. Free plan users only get SWE-1.6. |
| Last verified | October 25, 2026 | October 25, 2026 |
In Depth
Claude Code
Claude Code is a terminal-based coding agent from Anthropic. You give it a prompt, and it reads your codebase, plans changes, edits files, runs tests, and commits - all autonomously. It spawns sub-agents for parallel work, uses persistent memory (CLAUDE.md files) to remember project context between sessions, and integrates with MCP servers for external tools. I run it on the Max plan (from $100/mo) and it handles everything from multi-file refactors to full feature builds. My video on Claude Code sub-agents hit 160,000 views - it's the tool my audience asks about most. As of October 2026 it defaults to Claude Opus 5.5 on Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise, and API accounts, and you can switch models per session.
Windsurf
Windsurf is an AI-native IDE originally built by Codeium as a direct competitor to Cursor. Cognition acquired it in 2025 and now sells the editor as Devin Desktop, on the same plans as Devin Cloud and the Devin CLI. Its agent is now Devin Local, which succeeded Cascade and runs the same harness as the Devin CLI, with subagents and sandboxing - an agentic mode that reads your codebase, plans changes across multiple files, and executes them step by step with a diff preview. It supports Claude, GPT, and Codeium's own models. The free plan includes unlimited Tab completions and inline edits plus a light agent quota, and Pro is $20/mo. Windsurf excels at multi-file refactors and has strong context awareness across large codebases. It's VS Code-compatible, so extensions and keybindings carry over seamlessly.
FAQ
Answers taken from each tool's verified fact sheet, with the date it was last checked.
How much does Claude Code cost?
As of October 25, 2026: Pro - $20/mo, or $17/mo billed annually ($200 up front): includes Claude Code; Max - $100/mo (5x Pro usage) or $200/mo (20x Pro usage), plus $100 to $200/mo in API credits; Team - Standard seat $20/seat/mo billed annually ($25 monthly); Premium seat $100/seat/mo billed annually ($125 monthly); 2 to 150 seats; Enterprise - $20/seat/mo billed annually, 20 seat minimum, plus usage at API rates; Console (API key) - pay per token at Anthropic API rates; Free claude.ai plan - does not include Claude Code. Source: Claude Code setup docs, Claude Code model configuration, Claude pricing, anthropics/claude-code CHANGELOG, anthropics/claude-code releases, @anthropic-ai/claude-code on npm (release dates).
How do I install Claude Code?
Official install commands as of October 25, 2026: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash or brew install --cask claude-code or npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code.
Which models does Claude Code use?
As of October 25, 2026: Defaults to Claude Opus 5.5 on Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise, and the Anthropic API (Sonnet 4.5 on Microsoft Foundry). Switch with /model, claude --model, or ANTHROPIC_MODEL using the opus, sonnet, haiku, and fable aliases (Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Haiku 5.5, Fable 5.1 on the Anthropic API) or a full model name; Fable is never the default and must be picked explicitly.
How much does Windsurf cost?
As of October 25, 2026: No separate Windsurf plan - windsurf.com/pricing redirects to devin.ai/pricing, and the editor is sold as Devin Desktop on Devin's plans (see the Devin tool page or /coding-agent-plans/devin). Source: Devin plans and pricing, Install Devin Desktop, Devin Desktop AI models, Devin Desktop changelog, Windsurf to Devin Desktop FAQ.
How do I install Windsurf?
Official install commands as of October 25, 2026: sudo apt install devin-desktop or sudo dnf install -y devin-desktop.
Which models does Windsurf use?
As of October 25, 2026: Pick a model from the dropdown under the agent input: Cognition's SWE-2 and SWE-1.7, Claude Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, and Fable 5.1, GPT-6 Astra, Sol, and Luna, Gemini 4 Argon, Kimi K3, GLM-5.3, or the Adaptive router. Cognition recommends Fusion, which pairs a frontier lead model with a cheaper sidekick. Free plan users only get SWE-1.6.
