What is our primary use case?
I have mainly used Windsurf for testing purposes. I started using it when it became popular, especially before it was called Windsurf, when it was called Codium. I have used both the editor and the autocomplete service.
I experimented with how they handle the topic and how they implement the AI flow in the same way as other AI-based editors. I mainly wanted to see what their different proposal was, and I developed a couple of projects specifically to test this.
The last project I developed was an editorial-style landing page using Astro, which did not have interactivity; however, they were components with a lot of dynamism and a lot of logic between animations and user-triggered flows.
For my main workflow, I do React Native development, and my main hurdle in using this editor, which is not strictly Windsurf's fault, is the performance issue. Since React Native, along with all the tools I need to keep running at the same time, consumes a lot of resources. The editor becomes one more competitor for my system resources, and this harms me a lot in performance, especially regarding RAM. I know this is not directly Windsurf's fault; it is the fault of what it is based on. But this is one of my major impediments when it comes to using an editor based on Visual Studio, which is Windsurf's case, and with which I had problems when developing in React Native.
What is most valuable?
The particular tool Windsurf has to differentiate the AI-generated code helped me. Even though nowadays most editors already have a very similar tool, Windsurf's was the first that impressed me and was useful for me.
I think Windsurf is the one that offers the most consistent experience. However, I have to admit that the competition is pretty stiff. For me personally, the biggest differentiator when using an AI editor is the available models, and in reality most editors already have the same models. There is not a feature for me that stands out in Windsurf over other text editors currently, mainly speaking of flows, which are what really matter.
Since the vast majority of editors are based on Visual Studio Code, many times, especially at the beginning, you could notice how certain flows were still the same as Visual Studio Code unintentionally, for example, names of windows or things of that nature. However, Windsurf was the first that changed the editor layout format a bit, but kept it consistent across all its tools and how you were redirected between them. For example, with the same chat window, which at the time Visual Studio did not have a chat window and Windsurf developed one, and it worked quite well, it felt quite integrated into the editor because it was dynamic. On the other hand, there were other editors that had chat at the time, and it was quite clunky and very manual.
Even though not mentioned as an improvement, the tool for seeing differences between the previous code and the new code generated by AI helped me a lot to debug possible errors before seeing them, especially for certain animations involving SVG vectors.
What needs improvement?
I like the model Windsurf implemented, Windsurf's own model, SWE. I think it is good for what it offers, especially on a free tier. However, again, you have to go to the advanced models to really get a big difference.
Windsurf is not a current daily work tool. It is a tool that has been used in an exploratory way, which has been satisfactory; however, as I mentioned, there has been no noticeable difference compared to other tools.
In terms of productivity, there has not been any notable improvement. It was more pleasant at a usage level, but in terms of pure productivity as such, there has not been improvement.
I think having a light mode to be able to just edit code with a minimum of services running could help, since especially nowadays when there is scarcity or problems regarding RAM, when you do not have enough capacity. For example, I have a machine with 16 GB of RAM, and even with that, developing in React Native, I experience slowdowns, lags, and I see how my system slows down when I have many services consuming my RAM. Currently, I use native editors that help me, and the difference is very noticeable; it is practically from 100 megabytes to 1 gigabyte. I think optimizing resource consumption would be a very key point.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
A very large project becomes a bit complicated to manage, since you have to have a lot of control over how the model is executed, basically having directives. However, I am not sure if this is replicable in other editors, because I have not tried that many large projects.
Buyer's Guide
Windsurf
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about Windsurf. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
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How are customer service and support?
I have not had to contact support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Windsurf was the first AI editor I used, specifically in an exploratory way. After Windsurf was when I dared to try other tools to see what different things they offered.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I evaluated both Zed, the editor that is native, and terminal tools such as Cloud Code and Open Code using other APIs.
What other advice do I have?
The last project I developed was an editorial-style landing page using Astro, which did not have interactivity; however, they were components with a lot of dynamism and a lot of logic between animations and user-triggered flows.
In terms of productivity, there has not been any notable improvement. It was more pleasant at a usage level, but in terms of pure productivity as such, there has not been improvement.
For my main workflow, I do React Native development, and my main hurdle in using this editor, which is not strictly Windsurf's fault, is the performance issue. Since React Native, along with all the tools I need to keep running at the same time, consumes a lot of resources. The editor becomes one more competitor for my system resources, and this harms me a lot in performance, especially regarding RAM. I know this is not directly Windsurf's fault; it is the fault of what it is based on. But this is one of my major impediments when it comes to using an editor based on Visual Studio, which is Windsurf's case, and with which I had problems when developing in React Native.
I think having a light mode to be able to just edit code with a minimum of services running could help, since especially nowadays when there is scarcity or problems regarding RAM, when you do not have enough capacity. For example, I have a machine with 16 GB of RAM, and even with that, developing in React Native, I experience slowdowns, lags, and I see how my system slows down when I have many services consuming my RAM. Currently, I use native editors that help me, and the difference is very noticeable; it is practically from 100 megabytes to 1 gigabyte. I think optimizing resource consumption would be a very key point.
A very large project becomes a bit complicated to manage, since you have to have a lot of control over how the model is executed, basically having directives. However, I am not sure if this is replicable in other editors, because I have not tried that many large projects.
I would rate this product a 7 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.