Discover/Jan AI vs Windsurf IDE
Jan AI
VS
Windsurf IDE

Jan AI vs Windsurf IDE

An in-depth comparison of Jan AI and Windsurf IDE — pricing, features, ratings, and more.

Jan AI
4.8
43 reviews
Windsurf IDE
4.9
164 reviews
Higher rated

Side-by-Side Comparison

Jan AI
Windsurf IDE
Category
AI Coding Assistant
AI Coding Assistant
Pricing
Free
Free tier; Pro at $15/month; Teams at $35/user/month
Pricing model
free
freemium
Rating
4.8 ★
4.9 ★
Reviews
43
164
Platforms
macOS, Windows, Linux
Windows, macOS, Linux
API Access
✗ No
✗ No
Open Source
✓ Yes
✗ No

Key Features

Jan AI
  • 100% offline local LLM execution
  • OpenAI-compatible API server mode
  • Extension marketplace
  • Remote API connections (OpenAI, Mistral)
  • Cross-platform desktop app
Windsurf IDE
  • Cascade agentic AI
  • Multi-file code editing
  • Terminal command execution
  • Codebase understanding
  • VS Code compatible
  • Multiple AI models
  • Flows for automation

Pros & Cons

Jan AI
Pros
  • + Fully open source
  • + Great UI for local models
  • + Extension support
Cons
  • Smaller community than LM Studio
  • Some hardware requirements
Windsurf IDE
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