Cline vs Windsurf — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
Cline starts at Free. Windsurf starts at $20/mo. Cline is $20/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Windsurf.
How pricing works
These two tools don't price the same way, so the headline numbers below aren't directly comparable until you plug in your own volume.
- Cline (Per Usage) — Cline bills purely on usage. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
- Windsurf (Tiered) — Windsurf bills on a fixed plan from $20/mo, so the listed price is what you pay regardless of volume.
Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.
Open-source autonomous coding agent that runs in VS Code as an extension. Cline itself is free — users bring their own LLM API key (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Groq, OpenRouter, local models via Ollama). Cost is entirely determined by underlying LLM token usage. Popular with developers who want an agent-first coding experience but prefer to pay direct LLM costs rather than a marked-up subscription.
AI-first code editor (formerly Codeium). Restructured Mar 19 2026: retired credit-based system, introduced daily/weekly quotas. Free tier (unlimited Tab autocomplete + light Cascade quota), Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo, Teams $40/user/mo, Enterprise custom. Pro raised from $15 to $20 in the restructure. Acquired by Cognition AI 2025 (Devin autonomous agent team).
All plans compared
| Tier role | Plan | Cline monthly | Cline annual | Windsurf monthly | Windsurf annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | Cline (extension) / Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Entry paid | — / Pro | — | — | $20 | $16 |
| Pro / power | — / Max | — | — | $200 | $160 |
| Teams | Teams | $20 | $20 | $40 | $32 |
| Enterprise | Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.
What each is best for
Cline is worth it if… developers who already have LLM API access and want an autonomous coding agent without a subscription markup. The BYOK model is the differentiator — typical monthly cost is $5-50 in Claude Sonnet tokens depending on usage, which beats most $20-60/mo subscription tools if you're a light user.
Windsurf is worth it if… developers who want an AI-first editor priced on daily/weekly quotas (predictable) rather than Cursor's credit-pool model (metered). Free tier is more generous than Cursor's Hobby — unlimited Tab autocomplete is a real productivity floor for solo devs.
Bottom line: Choose based on how you want to pay — Cline is per usage, Windsurf is tiered.
Choose Cline over Windsurf if…
Choose Cline if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, a free entry tier).
- You match the profile Cline is built for: developers who already have LLM API access and want an autonomous coding agent without a subscription markup.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
Choose Windsurf if…
- You want flat, predictable credits without a usage meter running in the background.
- You're a team that values a simpler pricing story over maximum model choice.
- You need enterprise deployment options including self-hosted variants.
At a glance
| Cline | Windsurf | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Entry price | Free | $20/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | Tiered |
| Last verified | September 20, 2026 | September 10, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified September 20, 2026. Tracked daily.