Discover/SWE-agent vs Windsurf IDE
SWE-agent
VS
Windsurf IDE

SWE-agent vs Windsurf IDE

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

SWE-agent
4.4
10 reviews
Windsurf IDE
4.9
164 reviews
Higher rated

Side-by-Side Comparison

SWE-agent
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
4.4 ★
4.9 ★
Reviews
10
164
Platforms
CLI
Windows, macOS, Linux
API Access
✗ No
✗ No
Open Source
✓ Yes
✗ No

Key Features

SWE-agent
  • Autonomous GitHub issue resolution
  • Codebase navigation tools
  • Multiple LLM backend support
  • Benchmark evaluation framework
  • Research-grade agent
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

SWE-agent
Pros
  • + Open source research tool
  • + Pioneered SWE benchmarks
  • + Academic credibility
Cons
  • Research tool, not production-ready
  • Complex setup
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