Windsurf vs Cursor vs Trae vs Zed
A side-by-side look at scores, pricing and features — with RECATOOLS' ASEAN-aware verdict for each.
Windsurf
Agentic AI IDE — rebranded Devin Desktop by Cognition, June 2026
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Cursor
AI-first VS Code fork — agentic, codebase-aware editing
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Trae
ByteDance's free AI IDE — capable agent mode, shaky privacy record
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Zed
High-performance code editor with built-in AI
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| RECATOOLS Score | 7.8 / 10 | 8.6 / 10 | 7.8 / 10 | 7.5 / 10 |
| Capability | ||||
| Value for money | ||||
| Ease of use | ||||
| ASEAN readiness | ||||
| API quality | ||||
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free tier | — | Hobby plan — standing free tier (not just a trial), 2,000 completions / 50 slow premium requests per month, no card required | — | — |
| Paid from | Free; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; Teams $80/month + $40/seat/month | $20/month (Pro); Pro+ $60/month; Ultra $200/month; Teams $40/user/month | — | — |
| Has API | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Open source | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Free to use | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Users | Not reliably disclosed | 1m+ developers | — | — |
| Founded | 2021 | 2022 | 2024 | 2021 |
| Maker | Varun Mohan, Douglas Chen | SpaceX | — | — |
| Verdict | Windsurf is now Devin Desktop: Cognition acquired the Codeium-built IDE in July 2025 and folded it into the Devin brand on June 2, 2026. The product itself remains a strong agentic editor — VS Code-derived, with the Rust... |
Cursor is the most polished AI-first code editor going — a VS Code fork that bakes model-aware autocomplete, multi-file agent edits and chat-with-your-codebase into the core editing loop. Tab completion and Composer are... |
Trae is ByteDance's most credible swing at an agent-native IDE, and being free changes the calculus versus Cursor or Windsurf subscriptions. The model roster is deep — Doubao, DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi, Qwen, MiniMax — switcha... |
Zed is a blazing-fast, Rust-built code editor with first-class AI assistance, multiplayer real-time collaboration and a clean, low-latency interface. Its standout strength is raw performance and a thoughtful, native feel... |
| Full review → | Full review → | Full review → | Full review → |
Comparisons cover up to 4 tools. Scores are RECATOOLS editorial assessments; verify current pricing on each vendor's site.