OpenCode vs Windsurf: where developers land.
816 opinions. No direct preference recorded yet. Approval is 66% vs 58%.
If you want cost & pricing, choose OpenCode. If you want UX, choose Windsurf. The direct preference is not clear yet; use the decision cards below.
Choose OpenCode if you…
- Want an open-source terminal agent with a large opinion base
- Care most about cost and customization
- Accept reliability risk for a cheaper, configurable workflow
Choose Windsurf if you…
- Want an agent inside an editor with built-in tab completion
- Like frequent model promotions and a $20 plan covering most models
- Can work with thin evidence and reported quota cuts
Cost & pricing for OpenCode. UX for Windsurf.
Net sentiment per topic: praise minus complaints, as a share of mentions. Positive means more praise than complaints. Hover a dot for the raw counts.
Net sentiment = praise minus complaints, as a share of each tool's mentions. The dot lanes are only for readability; position is the score.
View data table
| Topic | OpenCode | Windsurf | Mentions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost & pricing | +65 | +14 | 137 / 7 |
| UX | +34 | +33 | 142 / 6 |
| Reliability | -36 | -100 | 122 / 3 |
The same decision, from both sides.
Paraphrased from comments where a developer named a preference or described a switch. Each links to the original.
Picked OpenCode 0 developers
No explicit switches recorded.
Picked Windsurf 0 developers
No explicit switches recorded.
The numbers.
| Metric | OpenCode | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Approval | 66% | 58% |
| Last 90 days | 55% | – |
| Opinions | 780 | 36 |
| Developers | 569 | 35 |
| First-hand opinions | 597 | 31 |
| Direct picks | 0 | 0 |
| Type | Terminal agent | AI IDE |
| Made by | Open source | Cognition |
| Website | Visit ↗ | Visit ↗ |
Related matchups.
Claude Code vs OpenCode
73–42 direct picks, and a clear difference in what developers optimise for.
OpenCode vs Pi
35–11 direct picks, and a clear difference in what developers optimise for.
OpenAI Codex vs OpenCode
14–7 direct picks, and a clear difference in what developers optimise for.
How to read this comparison.
Approval is the positive share of opinions that took a side, with the rank based on the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval. Direct picks count comments where a developer explicitly preferred one tool or described switching. Small samples are noisier; check the opinion counts.
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