I tested the top AI coding tools: Here are the 5 best Windsurf alternatives in 2025

AI coding assistants felt like a bit of magic at first, didn't they? I remember firing up Windsurf and being genuinely impressed by its ability to spin up code across multiple files from a single prompt. But once the novelty wore off, the small things started to get to me. The credit-based pricing felt like a taxi meter running in the background, performance could get sluggish on bigger projects, and every so often, the AI would decide to go on a refactoring adventure I never asked for.

And it seems I'm not the only one. A quick look through a few Reddit threads shows plenty of developers running into the same issues and asking the same thing: what are the best Windsurf alternatives? The conversation has shifted from just finding a tool that can write code to finding one that actually fits a real-world workflow, without causing budget anxiety or breaking your flow state.

So, this article is my attempt to answer that question. I've spent some quality time with the top contenders to give you a clear, no-nonsense comparison of the 5 best alternatives to Windsurf I could find. Because being productive isn't just about coding faster, it's about staying focused.

What is an AI coding assistant?

Before we get into the weeds, let's make sure we're all on the same page. An AI coding assistant is basically a tool, either a full-blown IDE (Integrated Development Environment) or a plugin, that uses AI to help you write, understand, and clean up code. Think of it as a pair programmer that doesn't need coffee breaks.

Their main job is to help with stuff like:

• Editing code across multiple files based on a single instruction you give it.

• Suggesting code and completing lines as you type.

• Helping you refactor code to make it cleaner or more modern.

• Letting you "chat" with your codebase to ask questions.

Why are developers looking for Windsurf alternatives?

Windsurf certainly made a name for itself, but a few common headaches have sent developers looking for something else.

• Credit usage can get expensive. Windsurf's model uses credits for actions and prompts. For anyone coding full-time, these credits can vanish surprisingly quickly, leading to unpredictable costs.

  

  As some folks on Reddit have noted, this pricing can be a real pain.

  Reddit

• Performance can lag on big projects. While it's zippy on small tasks, Windsurf's real-time suggestions can sometimes slow to a crawl in large, multi-repository projects. That little bit of lag is all it takes to break your concentration.

• Context and hallucinations. Sometimes, the AI just loses the plot. It might make huge changes you didn't ask for or completely forget what you were talking about one prompt ago. This can create bugs that take longer to fix than it would have to just write the code yourself.

• Leadership changes and an uncertain future. After Google acquired key talent from Windsurf, including its CEO, some users are understandably worried about the tool's long-term stability and support.

My criteria for picking the best Windsurf alternatives

To keep this comparison useful, I judged each tool on four key things:

• Functionality: How good is it at actually writing code, handling refactors, and understanding context across a whole project?

• IDE Integration: Does it work well with the editors people actually use, like VS Code and the JetBrains family?

• Pricing Model: Is the pricing straightforward and fair for solo devs and teams? No hidden costs or confusing credit systems.

• User Experience: Is the tool easy to use, or does it just add another layer of complexity to your day?

A quick comparison of the top Windsurf alternatives

Feature	Cursor	GitHub Copilot	Qodo	Zed	Aider
Best For	Fast, local edits & prototyping	General-purpose coding assistance	Enterprise-scale code quality & security	High-performance, collaborative coding	Terminal-based, agentic workflows
IDE Support	Custom VS Code fork	VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim	VS Code, JetBrains, CLI	Standalone Editor	Terminal
Pricing Model	Tiered SaaS	Tiered SaaS	Free & Tiered SaaS	Free (Open Source)	Free (BYO API Key)
Key Differentiator	Native AI in a VS Code experience	Deep GitHub integration	RAG-powered context & code review	Blazing fast performance (Rust)	Git-native, command-line control

The 5 best Windsurf alternatives for developers in 2025

Here’s my breakdown of the top tools I tested. Each one has a different feel and is best for a different kind of developer.

1. Cursor

Cursor is an AI-first code editor built as a fork of VS Code, and it really feels that way. If you live and breathe VS Code, you'll feel right at home. It’s built for speed, with AI features baked right in, which makes it great for quick edits and local prototyping.

Key features:

• AI code completions and refactoring that feel almost instant.

• An integrated chat panel where you can ask questions about your open files.

• Little "Fix with AI" buttons that pop up over errors and in the terminal.

• You can reference specific files ("@file") or docs ("@docs") in your prompts to give the AI better context.

Pros & cons:

• Pros: It’s lightning-fast for single-file changes, the familiar UI means there's practically no learning curve, and it’s ideal for rapid-fire coding sessions.

• Cons: It sometimes struggles to grasp the full context of a large, multi-file project. The UI can also get a bit busy with all the AI buttons popping up.

Pricing:

• Hobby: Free, with 200 completions and 50 chat requests per month.

• Pro: $20 per month for unlimited completions and 500 requests.

• Business: $40 per user per month, which adds more team features.

2. GitHub Copilot

You can't talk about AI coding assistants without talking about GitHub Copilot. It’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room for a reason. Backed by GitHub and OpenAI, it's less of an "agent" and more of a partner that lives inside your editor. Its biggest advantage is how perfectly it fits into the whole GitHub ecosystem. It’s reliable, widely supported, and fantastic at writing boilerplate code.

Key features:

• Generates entire functions and code blocks from a simple comment.

• A lifesaver for generating repetitive code patterns and saving you from endless copy-pasting.

• Deeply integrated with GitHub repos, issues, and pull requests.

• Supports a huge range of programming languages and frameworks out of the box.

Pros & cons:

• Pros: Super easy to set up and use, supports pretty much every editor, and its performance on common coding tasks is excellent.

• Cons: It's not as "agentic" as Windsurf, so it's not the best for complex, multi-file refactors. The suggestions can feel a bit generic sometimes and usually need a quick review.

Pricing:

• Copilot Individual: Free for verified students, teachers, and maintainers of popular open-source projects. The Pro plan is $10/month.

• Copilot Business: $19 per user per month, with organization-wide policy management.

• Copilot Enterprise: $39 per user per month, adding deeper personalization and docs search.

3. Qodo

Qodo calls itself an enterprise-grade AI engineering platform, and it lives up to the name. It's more than just a code generator; it’s a set of tools that plug into your IDE and your Git workflow. Its secret weapon is a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) engine that gives it a deep understanding of your specific codebase. This makes it perfect for large, complex systems where quality and security are top priorities.

Key features:

• The RAG engine provides incredibly context-aware code generation and reviews.

• Advanced debugging tools that help you find the root cause of issues.

• Built from the ground up to handle projects that span multiple repositories and languages.

• A heavy focus on security and compliance, including SOC 2 certification.

Pros & cons:

• Pros: Amazing context handling in complex projects, helps enforce your team's coding standards, and scales well for large organizations.

• Cons: Getting the advanced features set up can be a bit more work compared to simpler tools.

Pricing:

• Developer: Free, includes 75 credits per month.

• Teams: $30 per user per month, includes 2,500 credits, automated PR descriptions, and private support.

• Enterprise: Custom pricing for advanced security, different deployment options, and unlimited usage.

4. Zed

Zed is a different beast entirely. It's a high-performance code editor built from the ground up in Rust, and it is fast. Seriously, it's wild. While its AI features are still evolving, its obsession with speed and built-in real-time collaboration make it a compelling choice for anyone tired of slow, bloated IDEs.

Key features:

• Insanely fast performance that uses both your CPU and GPU.

• Native AI integration with models like Claude Sonnet.

• Built-in, real-time collaboration features like shared projects, cursors, and chat.

• A clean, minimal UI with a built-in terminal and Vim mode.

Pros & cons:

• Pros: Incredibly fast and responsive, fully open-source, and offers the best experience for real-time pair programming I've seen.

• Cons: It's a newer editor, so its AI toolkit isn't quite as deep as what you'd find in Cursor or Copilot.

Pricing:

• Personal: Free forever. You can bring your own API keys for AI features.

• Pro: $10 per month, which includes $5 of token credits for using Zed's hosted models.

• Enterprise: Custom pricing for larger organizations.

5. Aider

Aider is a unique tool for a very specific kind of developer: the one who lives and breathes in the command line. It’s an AI coding assistant that runs entirely in your terminal and works directly with your local Git repo. You chat with it, tell it what to change, and it edits your files and commits them. No GUI, no fuss, just pure command-line power.

Key features:

• Chat-based coding, right in your terminal.

• Works with your local files and automatically commits changes to Git.

• Maps out your entire codebase to maintain context as you chat.

• Lets you bring your own API key for models like GPT-4 or Claude 3, so you control the cost.

Pros & cons:

• Pros: Perfect for a terminal-centric workflow, great for backend development and scripting, and it's open-source.

• Cons: The lack of a graphical interface will be a dealbreaker for many. You need to be very comfortable with command-line tools.

Pricing:

• Free. You just pay for the API usage through your own OpenAI, Anthropic, or other accounts.

This video offers a head-to-head comparison of Windsurf and Cursor, two of the top AI code editors discussed.

Beyond coding: The tool that gives you back your focus

The tools above are all great for making the act of writing code faster. But what about everything else that pulls you out of your work? Every developer has been deep in thought, only to be derailed by a Slack message from sales asking a technical question or a support ticket that needs an urgent look.

That's where eesel AI comes into the picture. While coding assistants help you write code, eesel helps you not have to. It’s an AI platform built to automate the exact kind of interruptions that kill a developer's productivity.

• AI Internal Chat: Think about an AI assistant in your company's Slack or Microsoft Teams that has read all your internal documentation. You can train it on your Confluence, Google Docs, and engineering wikis, and it becomes the first line of defense for internal questions. No more switching contexts to explain how an API works for the tenth time.

• Automated Triage and Support: The AI Agent from eesel plugs into your help desk and learns from past tickets to answer frontline support questions. It cuts down on the number of bug reports and technical queries that land on the engineering team's plate, freeing you up to actually build things.

Best of all, it's made for developers who just want their tools to work. You can get it set up in a few minutes without ever needing to talk to a salesperson.

Choose the right Windsurf alternative for the job

There isn't one "best" Windsurf alternative, it really just depends on how you work. If you want lightning-fast edits in an environment you already know, Cursor is probably your best bet. If your team lives and breathes GitHub, Copilot is a no-brainer. For large teams where code quality and security are king, Qodo is a serious contender. And for the terminal purists out there, Aider is in a league of its own.

But don't forget, writing code is only half the job. Protecting your focus is the other half. A modern developer's toolkit isn't just about what helps you code faster; it's also about what automates the distractions that slow you down.

Ready to get some of that focus back? While AI coding assistants speed up your typing, eesel AI automates the interruptions that pull you away from your work. Set up an internal Q&A bot in minutes and let your team find their own answers.