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Windsurf vs Claude Code

A feature-by-feature comparison of Windsurf and Claude Code across 7 capability categories.

First tool

Try Windsurf (opens in a new tab)

Second tool

Try Claude Code (opens in a new tab)

Modalities — Tie

Modalities: Windsurf compared with Claude Code
Feature	Windsurf	Claude Code
Text Input	Yes. Chat and inline prompting throughout the editor.	Yes, requires pro plan. Plain-language prompts drive the agent across the CLI, IDE, desktop, and web.
Image Upload / Vision	Yes. Paste screenshots and mockups into the chat as context.	Yes, requires pro plan. Attached photos in the Claude app are passed into the session as vision context.
Image Generation	No. Does not generate still images.	No. Documented as a coding agent that edits files and runs commands, not an image generator.
Voice Mode	No. No voice interface.	Unknown. Voice exists on the Claude consumer app; Code surfaces do not document a voice loop of their own.
Video Understanding	No. Does not analyse existing video.	Unknown. Not described in the Claude Code overview or mobile client docs.
Video Generation	No. Not a video generation product.	No. Not a video generation product.
File Upload (PDF, DOCX)	Yes. Reads files from the open workspace and accepts attachments.	Yes, requires pro plan. Reads and edits the workspace; mobile Remote Control downloads attached files onto the machine.
Code Execution	Yes. Cascade runs terminal commands and tests as part of an agentic loop.	Yes, requires pro plan. Runs shell commands, tests, and git operations as part of the agent loop.
Audio Input	No. No audio input.	Unknown. Audio-file input is not documented for Claude Code.
Canvas / Artifact Editor	Yes. The editor pane is the shared surface.	Yes, requires pro plan. Desktop and VS Code surfaces review diffs visually beside the session.
Screen Sharing / Computer Use	No. Operates on the codebase and terminal, not the screen.	Partial. Claude in Chrome can drive a live web app; that is not full-desktop computer use.

Memory & Context — Claude Code Wins

Memory & Context: Windsurf compared with Claude Code
Feature	Windsurf	Claude Code
Persistent Memory	Yes. Memories persist project context across sessions.	Yes, requires pro plan. CLAUDE.md plus auto memory that saves learnings across sessions.
Large Context Window	Partial. Indexes the whole repository; the usable window depends on the selected model.	Yes, requires pro plan. Indexes the repository; Pro lists a 200k context window for Claude.
Custom Instructions	Yes. Workspace rules files steer the assistant per project.	Yes, requires pro plan. Project CLAUDE.md, path-scoped rules, and --append-system-prompt steer behavior.
Conversation History	Yes. Cascade conversations are saved per workspace.	Yes, requires pro plan. Sessions persist across terminal, IDE, web, and mobile, including VS Code history.

Integrations — Claude Code Wins

Integrations: Windsurf compared with Claude Code
Feature	Windsurf	Claude Code
Web Search / Browsing	Yes. Can fetch documentation and web results as context.	Yes, requires pro plan. Paid Claude plans include web search; Code also pulls live context through MCP servers.
Plugins / Extensions	Partial. MCP servers extend it, rather than a first-party plugin marketplace.	Yes, requires pro plan. MCP servers and the plugin system connect Drive, Jira, Slack, and custom tools.
API Access	No. An IDE product, not an API.	Partial. The Agent SDK and Console API keys automate Claude Code; there is no separate public Code REST product besides the Anthropic API.
Zapier Integration	Unknown. Not confirmed either way.	Unknown. No first-party Zapier listing was checked.
Custom GPTs / Bots	Partial. Workflows and rules rather than shareable custom agents.	Partial. Skills and sub-agents package workflows; they are not a Custom GPT store.
Real-time Collaboration	Unknown. Not confirmed either way.	Unknown. Multiplayer editing of one Code session was not confirmed.
Live Social Data Integration		No. Not a live social-firehose product.
Live Citation Mapping		No. Not a citation-mapping search product.

Developer — Claude Code Wins

Developer: Windsurf compared with Claude Code
Feature	Windsurf	Claude Code
Function Calling	Yes. Tool calling drives the agentic editing loop.	Yes, requires pro plan. Built-in tools plus MCP and the Agent SDK invoke structured tool calls.
Streaming Responses	Yes. Responses stream into the editor as they are produced.	Yes, requires pro plan. The CLI and IDE surfaces stream tokens as the agent works.
Fine-Tuning	No. No custom model training.	No. Claude Code runs Anthropic-hosted models; no custom-weight training is offered.
Embeddings API	No. No embeddings endpoint.	No. Not an embeddings product.
Structured Output (JSON)	No. Not a language model, so this does not apply.	Unknown. JSON-schema guarantees are not documented as a Claude Code product switch.
Reasoning / Thinking Mode	Yes. Available through the frontier models it can be pointed at.	Yes, requires pro plan. Runs Claude models with extended thinking for complex work.
Local Execution		No. The CLI runs on your machine; the model stays on Anthropic (or a third-party provider) infrastructure.
Open Weights		No. Claude model weights are not published.
Multi-Agent Orchestration		Yes, requires pro plan. A lead agent can spawn sub-agents and merge results; Agent SDK covers custom orchestration.

Platforms — Claude Code Wins

Platforms: Windsurf compared with Claude Code
Feature	Windsurf	Claude Code
Web App	No. Desktop editor only.	Yes, requires pro plan. claude.ai/code runs cloud sessions in the browser with no local install.
iOS App	No. No native mobile app; the web app runs in a mobile browser.	Yes, requires pro plan. The Claude iOS app has a Code tab for cloud sessions and Remote Control.
Android App	No. No native mobile app; the web app runs in a mobile browser.	Yes, requires pro plan. The Claude Android app exposes the same Code tab as iOS.
Desktop App	Yes. A desktop IDE, forked from VS Code.	Yes, requires pro plan. Standalone macOS and Windows app; docs say a paid subscription is required.
Chrome Extension	No. No official browser extension.	Yes, requires pro plan. Claude in Chrome is listed as a Code surface for debugging live web apps.

Privacy — Windsurf Wins

Privacy: Windsurf compared with Claude Code
Feature	Windsurf	Claude Code
GDPR Compliant	Yes. Codeium publishes a DPA and serves EU customers.	Unknown. Needs a read of Anthropic’s current DPA before we assert GDPR.
Opt Out of Data Training	Yes. Zero-data-retention mode is available; enterprise plans do not train on your code.	Yes, requires pro plan. Individual plans list model-training opt-out; Team and Enterprise default to no training.
Enterprise Privacy Mode	Yes, requires enterprise plan. Self-hosted and VPC deployment options for enterprise.	Yes, requires enterprise plan. Team and Enterprise add SSO, SCIM, audit logs, custom retention, and a HIPAA-ready option.

Workspaces — Tie

Workspaces: Windsurf compared with Claude Code
Feature	Windsurf	Claude Code
Projects / Folders	Yes. Organised by workspace.	Yes, requires pro plan. Each repository is a workspace; CLAUDE.md and settings travel across surfaces.