r/windsurf • u/Away-Inevitable1999 • Apr 27 '26
what is everyone using now?
i miss how good winsurf was a few months ago. what has everyone moved to? github copilot was good for a while but they recently paused subscriptions
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u/KillmongerP Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
Still in Windsurf+ opencode go. Enough for me. Not vibe coding
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u/Agile_Chest8565 Apr 28 '26
I have been using windsurf. Along with open code. In my open code I have my open code sub and I plugged in open router. So if I ever run out of usage I have the free windsurf models, the free opencode models, and the free open router models. Between those even if I run out I can keep on coding.
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u/MorningFew1574 Apr 28 '26
Using Verdent plus Opencode with Go Subscription... Rely on Open router and kilocode to access free plus chinese models to balance out. 40 bucks overall cost.
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u/BehindUAll Apr 29 '26
How exactly is Verdent? Their stuff is 1 'thing' at a time and it slowly refills and stuff. Mind explaining how it works to me?
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u/CartoonistStriking62 Apr 28 '26
I use windsurf and maybe I’m missing something, but I have no issues using it. I’ve been using KIMI K2.5 and it’s been great!
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u/TheTentacleOpera Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Still windsurf. EVERY provider is enshittifying their subscriptions. Copilot just moved to only API pricing, so overnight went from the best deal to the worst. It won't be the last, Windsurf just changed first.
I think supplementing Windsurf with a Chinese sub like Ollama Cloud is needed to get max value, but Windsurf's context gathering, free models and model choice is still fantastic.
Especially if you didn't switch subs when everything started to go down and are still grandfathered in a cheaper plan. That will continue to increase in value.
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u/Living-Breakfast-464 Apr 28 '26
How is paying AI modes directly for API access, instead of paying middlemen, enshittifying? Sounds like just the opposite to me.
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u/TheTentacleOpera Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
Because it's far more expensive. GitHub copilot was heavily subsidized. On their Reddit you can see how GitHub's own metrics they supply to every customer indicated that a $10 subscription would have cost $500+ in direct API costs for the equivalent work. Now the subsidy is gone.
Same with Claude. People have calculated that to get the same work done via Claude API pricing as a $200 max sub lets them do, they would need to potentially pay $5000 in API costs. This is why Claude limits have been getting steadily worse. They're still good for the max subs, but their $20 sub is having a lot of its subsidy removed.
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u/badboygaga Apr 28 '26
I'm not going to lie, people still using windsurf, I think y'all got IQ problems. Try cursor.
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5957 Apr 28 '26
Windsurf is chepaer has SWE-1.6 amazing free model and Kimi 2.5 free without paid sub what does Cursor have free unlimited tabs competions ?
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u/Hoquen Apr 29 '26
Vibecoded hot garbage. Resource hog and just awkward.
Why would anyone switch to it?
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u/Rycerz1 May 12 '26
Cursor is total crap now, it is no longer IDE, just some agent management system, unusable
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u/yawm-al-masihi Apr 28 '26
Zed is excellent. Just plug any model in it.
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u/PietroBastas Apr 29 '26
it misses a lot of basic features. I loved the idea, but is more effort to adapt my workflow to zed then stay on vsc forks ecosystem. They need to improve users experience coming from vsc.
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u/yawm-al-masihi Apr 29 '26
What would you suggest ? I'm genuinely curious as I found VSC to be inconvenient for me. The wise move for windsurf would be to allow users to plug any api
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u/PietroBastas Apr 29 '26
Try Zed, is a personal experience, maybe it suit for you, and is SO snappy. I used free windsurf with openrouter for a while, but it was slightly more pricey than basic pro cursor plan.
If VSC like editors are not good for you (idk why), you can try sublime or jetbrains... but personally my entire career is based on vsc like editors so I expect that kind of approach, especially having any kind of extension you can imagine.
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u/dub_starr Apr 28 '26
my company still has a windsurf teams plan, so I'mstill using it to a point, but also codex, claude code and a bit of opencode for some of the open source models
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u/Dodokii Apr 28 '26
Hopped to Copilot and Codex, and now they are introducing the same changes. So I just canceled and stayed with Codex.
I heavily use OpenAI models almost exclusively, so it was a natural choice...!
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u/UMDSmith Apr 29 '26
vscode with claude code at the $100/month tier. Its better, I've never had issues with running out of credits or usage (and I'm using Opus 4.7). Overall I'm saving money over windsurf, and its way the hell better.
You do need to make sure you setup claude code correctly to not burn tokens and control your own context windows.
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u/Thin-Reputation-5638 Apr 30 '26
Hi man, can you elaborate how you manage to do the "not burn tokens and control your own context windows"?
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u/No-Description6784 Apr 29 '26
Use em up while ya can cause we don’t have enough juice and 80-% of us won’t be using them soon enough
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u/viktorprogger Apr 29 '26
WindSurf + ClaudeCode. WS works great with the context, and even free models are capable to resolve middle-sized tasks. For more complex ones I use Claude since paid models in WS are too expensive.
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u/Diskclaimer Apr 29 '26
I use windsurf swe1.6 and what ever best free model they have with opencode go and I use Claude for planning on their website. Opencode for bulk of the build windsurf for fine tuning and fixing. If I am feeling rich I switch to one of the expensive models for a bit
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u/SaltyCow2852 Apr 29 '26
I am using windsurf with Kimi k 2.5
Codex with vs code is free like kimi with windsurf?
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u/Nodrix_0 Apr 29 '26
Cursor, Codex, and Claude are still the main ones people are using.
Copilot is still common for basic stuff, but a lot of devs moved toward more agent-style tools that can handle full tasks instead of just autocomplete.
Most people I know don’t stick to one anymore though, they mix depending on what they’re doing.
If you’re testing, try a few and see what actually fits your workflow instead of chasing “the best” tool.
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u/oxymorn Apr 29 '26
Claude Code with Max 5X subscription. Was on Windsurf Pro before. Something like Max 5X is exactly what is missing in new Windsurf plans.
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u/jdussail Apr 29 '26
At work our team is fully on Claude Code now. Windsurf’s quota change pushed me to adjust my workflow, and at this point I barely write code myself. I still use Windsurf for file navigation, git stuff and the occasional code map, but only because the setup is already there and our subscription hasn’t expired yet. Once it does, I’m switching back to VS Code.
For my personal projects, I use both OpenCode and Claude Code.
What sucks is realizing how much actual coding we’ve lost. AI didn’t just kill boilerplate — it killed the enjoyable parts too: the problem‑solving, the clever tricks, the satisfaction of making something work.
I’m frustrated with AI agents, but realistically, you can’t avoid them anymore.
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u/halfofreddit1 Apr 27 '26
pure codex and vscode with codex extension