Codex CLIVS
Codex CLI vs Windsurf IDE
An in-depth comparison of Codex CLI and Windsurf IDE — pricing, features, ratings, and more.
Codex CLI4.0
★★★★★
22 reviews
4.9
★★★★★
164 reviews
Higher ratedSide-by-Side Comparison
Codex CLICategory
AI Coding Assistant
AI Coding Assistant
Pricing
paid
Free tier; Pro at $15/month; Teams at $35/user/month
Pricing model
paid
freemium
Rating
4.0 ★
4.9 ★
Reviews
22
164
Platforms
CLI
Windows, macOS, Linux
API Access
✓ Yes
✗ No
Open Source
✓ Yes
✗ No
Key Features
Codex CLI- ✓ OpenAI models (GPT-4o, o3)
- ✓ Sandboxed code execution
- ✓ Repo file reading and writing
- ✓ Git-aware operations
- ✓ Open source
- ✓ Cascade agentic AI
- ✓ Multi-file code editing
- ✓ Terminal command execution
- ✓ Codebase understanding
- ✓ VS Code compatible
- ✓ Multiple AI models
- ✓ Flows for automation
Pros & Cons
Codex CLIPros
- + Open source
- + Lightweight and fast
- + Uses latest OpenAI models
Cons
- − Requires OpenAI API key
- − Less capable than Claude Code on complex tasks
Pros
- + Cascade is very capable autonomously
- + Good VS Code compatibility
- + Free to start
- + Fast and responsive
Cons
- − Cascade can make mistakes requiring review
- − Newer than Cursor
- − Credits can run out quickly on free tier