Cursor vs Windsurf: Best AI Coding Editor 2026## Quick Summary| Feature | Cursor | Windsurf ||---------|--------|----------|| Base | VS Code | VS Code || Agentic Support | High | Very High || Custom Models | ✅ | ✅ || Reasoning | OpenAI/Claude | Proprietary (Flow) |## What is Cursor?Cursor is the first AI-native code editor that fully index your codebase. Its "Composer" feature allows for multi-file edits and provides the best context-aware coding assistant on the market.## What is Windsurf?Windsurf is Codeium's new integrated development environment. Unlike Cursor which focuses on prompting, Windsurf uses "Flow" technology to proactively manage the editor’s state and predict your next several moves.## Feature Comparison### Context Understanding- Cursor: The best at finding relevant code snippets across massive repos using embeddings.- Windsurf: excels at understanding the relationship between files in real-time as you type.Winner: Cursor — for codebase depth.### Agentic Workflow- Windsurf feels more like a pair programmer that's always one step ahead, while Cursor feels like a super-powered assistant you command.Winner: Windsurf — for seamless flow.## Final VerdictDevelopers who prefer commanding their AI for specific tasks should stick with Cursor. Those who want a background agent that learns their habits should try Windsurf.