Key Terms
- Quota-based billing - Windsurf's billing system introduced March 2026. Plans include a daily and weekly token budget that refreshes automatically. Extra usage beyond the quota is billed at per-model API list prices. Source: Windsurf – Quota
- Cascade - Windsurf's agentic coding assistant inside the IDE. Supports Code, Ask, and Plan modes. Can read files, run terminal commands, edit code, and invoke MCP tools. Source: Windsurf – Cascade
- Devin Cloud - Cognition's cloud-based AI coding agent, now integrated into Windsurf as of version 2.0. Tasks run on a separate VM; results and PRs appear inside the editor. Source: Windsurf – Windsurf 2 0
- Adaptive model router - A Windsurf model option that automatically selects the best underlying model for each prompt. Draws down quota at a fixed per-token rate ($0.50/$2.00/$0.10 per MTok input/output/cache read). Source: Windsurf – Changelog (April 6, 2026 entry)
- Prompt credits (Enterprise) - Enterprise plans use a credit-based system where each message to Cascade costs 1 credit, regardless of how many tool calls follow. Credits cost $0.04 each ($120 for 1,000). Source: Windsurf – Usage
- Fast Context - A subagent powered by SWE-grep that finds relevant code context at >2,800 tokens/second throughput, up to 20x faster than default context retrieval. Source: Windsurf – Changelog (October 16, 2025 entry)
- Arena Mode - Side-by-side model comparison inside the IDE. Users vote on which model performs better on their tasks. Results feed personal and global leaderboards. Source: Windsurf – Changelog (January 30, 2026 entry)
- Tab (Supercomplete) - Windsurf's autocomplete system, powered by the SWE-1-mini model. Source: Windsurf – Pricing
Latest Changes
First report for this supplier. All models, plans, and pricing are listed as current state.
- New model: SWE-1.6 appeared in model catalog. Priced at $0.30/$1.50 per MTok with 0.5x quota multiplier. Free to use.
- New model: Claude Opus 4.7 available (April 16) in Low/Medium/High/XHigh/Max variants.
- New model: GPT-5.5 available (April 24) with quota multipliers from 7x to 32x.
- Feature added: Windsurf 2.0 (April 15): Agent Command Center, Devin Cloud integration.
- Feature added: Adaptive model router (April 6): auto-selects best model per prompt.
- Feature added: Kimi K2.5 available for free ($0.00/$0.00 per MTok).
- Plan change: Quota-based billing system introduced March 2026 (replacing credit system). Plans now include daily and weekly token budgets.
- Plan change: SSO moved from Teams to Enterprise-only with March 2026 pricing change.
Plans
Windsurf transitioned from a credit-based system to a quota-based system in March 2026. Plans now include a daily and weekly token budget. The exact token counts for "Light", "Standard", and "Heavy" tiers are not disclosed.
| Plan | Price | Usage Tier | Extra Usage | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | Light | Not available | Cascade, Tab autocomplete |
| Pro | $20/mo | Standard | At API price | Everything in Free + Previews |
| Max | $200/mo | Heavy | At API price | Everything in Pro + Deploys |
| Teams | $40/user/mo | Standard | At API price | Everything in Max + all premium models, Fast Context, SWE-1.5/SWE-1.6 models, Devin Cloud sessions, centralized billing, admin dashboard with analytics, priority support |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Everything in Teams + Knowledge base, SSO + access control, RBAC, volume discounts, hybrid deployment, account management |
Source: Windsurf – Pricing
Other pricing details:
- Student discount: Pro plan for $10/mo. Source: Windsurf – Quota
- Grandfathered pricing: existing Pro subscribers keep $15/mo; existing Teams subscribers keep $30/seat/mo. Source: Windsurf – Quota
- Enterprise credits: $120 per 1,000 pooled credits ($0.04/credit). Auto-refills below 15 credits with a default $160/mo cap. Source: Windsurf – Usage
- Referral program: $10 in extra usage per successful referral. Source: Windsurf – Pricing
Terms explained:
- SSO - employees log in via a corporate identity provider (Okta, Azure AD) instead of separate passwords. SSO was moved from Teams to Enterprise-only with the March 2026 pricing change; existing Teams subscribers who purchased the SSO add-on retain access. Source: Windsurf – Quota
- Hybrid deployment - allows enterprises to run Windsurf partly on-premises and partly in the cloud for data residency or compliance requirements. Source: Windsurf – Pricing
API Pricing
Windsurf is an IDE product, not an API provider. However, since quota-based billing charges per token at model API rates, the per-token costs below represent what users pay for extra usage beyond their included quota.
Proprietary Models
| Model | Input ($/MTok) | Output ($/MTok) | Cache Read ($/MTok) | Quota Multiplier | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-1.6 | $0.30 | $1.50 | $0.03 | 0.5x | Yes (0 credits) |
| SWE-1.6 Fast | $0.30 | $1.50 | $0.03 | 0.5x | No |
| SWE-1.5 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 0.5x | Yes (0 credits) |
| SWE-1.5 Fast | $0.30 | $1.50 | $0.03 | 0.5x | No |
| Adaptive | $0.50 | $2.00 | $0.10 | 1.5x | No |
Selected Frontier Models
| Model | Input ($/MTok) | Output ($/MTok) | Cache Read ($/MTok) | Quota Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4.7 Low | $2.50 | $12.50 | $0.25 | 7x |
| Claude Opus 4.7 Medium | $2.50 | $12.50 | $0.25 | 10x |
| Claude Opus 4.7 High | $2.50 | $12.50 | $0.25 | 14x |
| Claude Opus 4.7 XHigh | $2.50 | $12.50 | $0.25 | 16x |
| Claude Opus 4.7 Max | $2.50 | $12.50 | $0.25 | 30x |
| Claude Opus 4.6 Thinking | $5.00 | $25.00 | $0.50 | 8x |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 Thinking | $3.00 | $15.00 | $0.30 | 6x |
| GPT-5.5 No Thinking | $5.00 | $30.00 | $0.50 | 7x |
| GPT-5.5 Medium Thinking | $5.00 | $30.00 | $0.50 | 14x |
| GPT-5.5 High Thinking | $5.00 | $30.00 | $0.50 | 24x |
| GPT-5.4 Low Thinking | $2.50 | $15.00 | $0.25 | 1.5x |
| GPT-5.4 Medium Thinking | $2.50 | $15.00 | $0.25 | 3x |
| GPT-5.4 High Thinking | $2.50 | $15.00 | $0.25 | 4x |
| GPT-5.3-Codex Medium | $1.75 | $14.00 | $0.175 | 2x |
| GPT-5.1-Codex Medium | $0.25 | $2.00 | $0.025 | 1x |
| Kimi K2.5 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 1x (free) |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro High | $2.00 | $12.00 | $0.20 | 2x |
| Grok Code Fast 1 | $0.20 | $1.50 | $0.02 | 0.5x |
Priority/Fast variants cost 2x the standard token rate. For example, GPT-5.5 High Thinking Fast costs $12.50/$75.00 per MTok with an 60x quota multiplier.
Source: Windsurf – Models
Model Performance / Benchmarks
Windsurf does not publish independent benchmark scores for the Windsurf IDE as a product. Windsurf uses frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Moonshot AI alongside proprietary SWE models. Benchmark scores for those underlying models are published by their respective providers. See the Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Moonshot AI raw reports for model-level benchmarks.
Community reception for SWE-1.6 was positive: "windsurf SWE-1.6 is awesome" (27 upvotes, 64 comments on r/windsurf). Source: Old – Windsurf Swe16 Is Awesome
Latest News
Windsurf 2.0 Launch (April 15, 2026)
Major release introducing the Agent Command Center and Devin Cloud integration.
- Agent Command Center: Kanban-style view for managing all local and cloud agent sessions, organized by status. Sessions, PRs, files, and context are grouped into task-level "Spaces".
- Devin in Windsurf: Devin cloud agent available directly inside the editor. Users can delegate tasks from a local session to Devin with one click; Devin runs on its own VM. Changes and test results appear without leaving the editor. Billing uses existing quota and extra usage, plus $50 in extra usage added for launching a first Devin Cloud session.
- Additional changes: Refined Windsurf Browser with toolbar integration, faster Cascade sidebar load times, improved .gitignore/.codeiumignore handling, stability improvements for WSL/SSH/Dev Containers.
- Devin Cloud is rolling out gradually. Disabled by default for enterprise accounts (enterprise admins must enable it in organization settings if they have Cognition Platform).
Source: Windsurf – Windsurf 2 0
Adaptive Model Router (April 6, 2026)
New "Adaptive" model option in the model picker that automatically selects the best underlying model for each prompt. Available to all self-serve users on Pro, Max, and Teams plans.
- Extra usage promotional rate for 2 weeks after launch: $0.50/$2.00/$0.10 per MTok (input/output/cache read).
- Model picker now shows per-model input, output, and cache read token rates directly.
- Response cards now include token counts for cost transparency.
- Prompt cache timer integrated into the context window indicator.
A bug was discovered on April 7 where the adaptive router could not switch models after the first request. All affected users had their quota reset and overage restored.
Source: Windsurf – Changelog (April 6 and April 7, 2026 entries)
GPT-5.5 Available (April 24, 2026)
OpenAI's latest frontier model added to Windsurf. Priced at $5.00/$30.00 per MTok (input/output) with quota multipliers from 7x (no thinking) to 32x (XHigh thinking). Fast variants range up to 80x quota multiplier.
Source: Windsurf – Changelog (April 24, 2026 entry)
Claude Opus 4.7 Available (April 16, 2026)
Anthropic's latest frontier model added to Windsurf. Available in Low/Medium/High/XHigh/Max thinking variants, all priced at $2.50/$12.50 per MTok (input/output). Quota multipliers range from 7x to 30x.
Source: Windsurf – Changelog (April 16, 2026 entry)
SWE-1.6 Appears in Model Catalog
A new proprietary model, SWE-1.6, appeared in the Windsurf model catalog during April 2026. Priced at $0.30/$1.50 per MTok with a 0.5x quota multiplier. Listed as recommended and available at 0 credits (free). A "SWE-1.6 Fast" variant is also available at the same price and multiplier.
Community post "windsurf SWE-1.6 is awesome" received 27 upvotes and 64 comments on r/windsurf, indicating strong reception.
Source: Windsurf – Models and Old – Windsurf Swe16 Is Awesome
Kimi K2.5 Available for Free
Kimi K2.5 from Moonshot AI is available in Windsurf at $0.00/$0.00 per MTok (completely free). Listed as recommended with a 1x quota multiplier.
Source: Windsurf – Models
Community Signals
Quota Backlash Dominates April
The dominant community narrative on r/windsurf this month is outrage over the new quota-based billing system introduced in March 2026. Multiple highly upvoted posts report that included quotas are insufficient for even basic usage.
Top posts by engagement:
- "Windsurf Quietly Updated The Limits, The Whole Weekly Quota Now Ends In One Day" (74 upvotes, 46 comments). User reports that weekly quota can be exhausted in a single day of moderate use. Source: Old – Windsurf Quietly Updated The Limits The Whole
- "Goodbye Windsurf" (97 upvotes, 26 comments). A user leaving the platform, representative of many similar farewell posts. Source: Old – Goodbye Windsurf
- "Windsurf is no longer a viable product" (40 upvotes, 23 comments). Argues the quota system makes Windsurf unusable for professional development. Source: Old – Windsurf Is No Longer A Viable Product
- "You can only use Windsurf for 6 days in the entire month" (40 upvotes, 15 comments). Shows quota exhaustion after 6 days of use. Source: Old – You Can Only Use Windsurf For 6 Days In The
Per-Request Cost Shock
Multiple users report extreme per-request costs with frontier models under the new billing system:
- "I ran out of my daily quota after 2 opus 4.6 requests" (28 upvotes, 33 comments). Two requests to Claude Opus 4.6 exhausted a full daily quota on the Pro plan. Source: Old – I Ran Out Of My Daily Quota After 2 Opus 46
- "You accidentally say 'Hello' to Claude and it consumes 10% of your daily limit" (96 upvotes, 9 comments). Even trivial prompts consume significant quota with frontier models. Source: Old – You Accidentally Say Hello To Claude And It
- "I've spend $5 in one sonnet 4.6 thinking prompt" (34 upvotes, 14 comments). A single prompt cost $5 in extra usage. Source: Old – Ive Spend 5 In One Sonnet 46 Thinking Prompt Have
- "It is IMPOSSIBLE to use windsurf with a LARGE PRODUCTION CODEBASE. 44% daily quota in one request." (26 upvotes, 15 comments). Source: Old – It Is Impossible To Use Windsurf With A Large
- "Extra Usage is an armed robbery" (31 upvotes, 14 comments). Source: Old – Extra Usage Is An Armed Robbery This Is Outrageous
Value-for-Money Criticism
- "Someone Did the Math, You're Paying $20 For $19.92" (26 upvotes). Suggests the included quota on Pro ($20/mo) provides only $19.92 worth of token value at list prices. Source: Old – Someone Did The Math Youre Paying 20 For 1992
- "Windsurf happily took my $20 renewal yesterday, then told me I can't use it for 4 days" (27 upvotes, 14 comments). User charged at renewal but immediately hit quota limits. Source: Old – Windsurf Happily Took My 20 Renewal Yesterday
- "Brother, just be open" (48 upvotes, 14 comments). Plea for Windsurf to be transparent about quota limits. Source: Old – Brother Just Be Open
- "Windsurf still radio-silent" (39 upvotes, 12 comments). Complaints about lack of official response to the quota backlash. Source: Old – Windsurf Still Radiosilent
Positive Signals
- "windsurf SWE-1.6 is awesome" (27 upvotes, 64 comments). Community positive reception of the new free proprietary model. Source: Old – Windsurf Swe16 Is Awesome
- "For everyone to realise how much AI coding cost" (26 upvotes, 30 comments). Discussion acknowledging that underlying API costs are high, with some users defending Windsurf's pricing as reflecting real costs. Source: Old – For Everyone To Realise How Much Ai Coding Cost
- Windsurf 2.0 announcement received 31 upvotes and 31 comments. Community feedback on Devin Cloud integration was mixed: some excited about the feature, others concerned it would further strain quotas. Source: Old – Windsurf 20 Introducing The Agent Command Center
HackerNews
Windsurf 2.0 received minimal traction on HN (7 points, 2 comments). One commenter noted: "I was skeptical of Devin after the launch, but it's been writing most of my code the last few months." Source: News – Item
"Show HN: Modo" (April 5, 2026), an open-source alternative to Windsurf/Cursor/Kiro, received 103 points and 28 comments. Source: News – Item
Enterprise Readiness
| Feature | Available? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| SSO (SAML) | Yes | Enterprise plan only. Moved from Teams with March 2026 pricing change. Source: Windsurf – Quota |
| SSO (OIDC) | Undisclosed | Not explicitly mentioned. |
| SCIM | No | Not mentioned on pricing or docs pages. |
| Audit logs | No | Not mentioned on pricing or docs pages. |
| IP indemnity | No | Not mentioned on pricing or docs pages. |
| Data residency | Partial | Hybrid deployment available on Enterprise plan (partly on-prem, partly cloud). Source: Windsurf – Pricing |
| HIPAA | No | Not mentioned on pricing or docs pages. |
| Air-gapped / on-prem | Partial | Hybrid deployment on Enterprise. Not full air-gapped. Source: Windsurf – Pricing |
| SLA | No | No published SLA on pricing page. |
| Admin controls (RBAC) | Yes | Admin dashboard with analytics, centralized billing, priority support on Teams and Enterprise. Source: Windsurf – Pricing |
Transparency Gaps
| Gap | Details | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Quota token counts for "Light", "Standard", "Heavy" | Windsurf does not publish the actual token or dollar budget for any usage tier. Users discover the limits by hitting them. The labels "Light", "Standard", "Heavy" carry no concrete numbers. | High |
| Daily vs. weekly quota ratio | Docs say "daily quota is more than 1/7 of your weekly quota" but do not give exact numbers. Users on r/windsurf report the weekly quota is approximately 2x the daily quota, meaning heavy-use days exhaust the weekly budget. | High |
| Extra usage billing granularity | Extra usage is billed at "API list prices" but the exact token counts and costs per request are only visible after the fact in the IDE. No pre-request cost estimate is available. | Medium |
| Model quota multiplier vs. token cost disconnect | The "quota multiplier" (credits) does not always align with the actual per-token cost. For example, Claude Opus 4.7 has the same $2.50/$12.50 per-token price across all thinking levels, but the multiplier ranges from 7x to 30x. The relationship between multiplier and actual token consumption is not explained. | Medium |
| Enterprise pricing | Enterprise plan requires contacting sales. No list price for per-seat cost or credit allocation is published. | Low |
| Devin Cloud billing | Devin Cloud sessions are billed from "existing quota and extra usage" but no per-session or per-task cost estimate is provided before launching a session. | Medium |
| "Relative cost" in model picker | Multiple Reddit posts ask what "relative cost" means in the model picker. No documentation explains this metric clearly. | Medium |