Does Windsurf use VS Code?
Our plugins for Visual Studio Code and JetBrains are our most popular plugins. The installation steps for these two are given below. For other IDEs and editors like Eclipse, Visual Studio, Neovim, Google Colab, and more, visit our download page to get started. Microsoft Visual Studio Code is a Microsoft licensed distribution of ‘Code – OSS’ that includes Microsoft proprietary assets (such as icons) and features (Visual Studio Marketplace integration, small aspects of enabling Remote Development).Visual Studio Code is free and based on open source, and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.Free/Libre Open Source Software Binaries of VS Code VSCodium is a community-driven, freely-licensed binary distribution of Microsoft’s editor VS Code.Visual Studio Code is proprietary software released under the Microsoft Software License, but based on the MIT licensed program named Visual Studio Code – Open Source (also known as Code – OSS), also created by Microsoft and available through GitHub.VS Code is a free code editor, which runs on the macOS, Linux, and Windows operating systems. Getting up and running with Visual Studio Code is quick and easy. It is a small download so you can install in a matter of minutes and give VS Code a try.
What is Windsurf in coding?
Windsurf has demonstrated a novel approach to generative AI for software development, enabling our developers to quickly become productive on new and heritage codebases, iterate on new capabilities, and focus on delivering business value. Windsurf—with 800,000+ active users and 1,000+ enterprise customers—aims to transform traditional development tools. Their product combines a modern IDE with Cascade, an AI agent that serves as an intelligent coding partner.Google hires Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, others in $2. AI talent deal. Google on Friday made the latest splash in the AI talent wars, announcing an agreement to bring in Varun Mohan, co-founder and CEO of artificial intelligence coding startup Windsurf.AI technology leader OpenAI announced reaching an agreement to acquire Windsurf, a leading AI Integrated Development Environment (IDE) agentic tool startup company, for $3 billion. Windsurf marks the first acquisition of an AI IDE company by any of the major generative AI foundational LLM companies.Windsurf Rebrand Codeium is now Windsurf. Our product and company now share a single identity, built around enabling AI-human collaboration.Artificial intelligence startup Cognition announced it’s acquiring Windsurf, the AI coding company that lost its CEO and several other senior employees to Google just days earlier.
What is the difference between Windsurf and Codeium?
Think of it like this: The Codeium extension lived inside your VS Code or JetBrains IDE. The Windsurf Editor is the IDE. A standalone platform tailored from scratch to give you a tighter, faster, and more AI-native dev experience. Codeium Chat: Provides AI-driven assistance for generating boilerplate code, refactoring, and bug fixes. Multi-IDE Support: Seamlessly integrates with over 40 IDEs and web editors, including VS Code, Colab, and Jupyter Notebooks.So, a code editor—to put it simply—is a text editor that has some features that make writing code easier. Now, an IDE, which stands for Integrated Development Environment, is something a bit more powerful and usually a bit more memory intensive.Zed, Eclipse Theia IDE, Lite XL, and Cursor all offer some advantages over VS Code, at least for now. Zed and Cursor stand apart.Visual Studio One key advantage of Microsoft Visual Studio is its extensive programming language support, covering around 30+ different languages. Developers appreciate its outstanding performance with C++ and its ability to compile and cross-compile for Windows, Android, iOS, and Linux.
Is Windsurf based on VSCode?
Windsurf is a new name for Codeium IDE for programming based on VSCode. What makes it special is that it has built-in AI features (VSCode does too btw). Windsurf Rebrand Codeium is now Windsurf. Our product and company now share a single identity, built around enabling AI-human collaboration.It’s a bit misleading to reduce them to “forks of VS Code”. Cursor and Windsurf built services and extensions to change the coding experience in a radical way.Windsurf is a new name for Codeium IDE for programming based on VSCode. What makes it special is that it has built-in AI features (VSCode does too btw).
How much is Windsurf IDE?
Windsurf offers a limited free plan that includes a two-week Pro trial and five prompt credits/month. Windsurf’s pricing for Pro currently starts at $15/month, which includes 500 prompt credits. Both Cursor and Windsurf have a free plan. As part of the free plan, you get several slow premium requests (this means you get to use premium models, but slower).
Is Windsurf an IDE?
Windsurf Editor is a fully agentic AI IDE — it doesn’t just suggest code, it writes, executes, debugs, tests and analyses in real time. Yes, Windsurf AI is designed with developer privacy and safety in mind. All local development remains on your machine, and sensitive actions (like deployments or clipboard access) are controlled by the user. It also supports secure plugin connections through its Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Can I use Windsurf for free?
As of mid-2025, Windsurf offers four pricing plans: Free, Pro, Teams, and Enterprise. Here’s a breakdown of what you get in each. Windsurf (formerly Codeium) FAQs The pricing for Windsurf (formerly Codeium) starts at $15. Windsurf (formerly Codeium) has 3 different plans: Pro at $15. Teams at $30.