Roo Code vs Windsurf
A side-by-side comparison of Roo Code and Windsurf, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
At a glance
| Attribute | Roo Code | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Category (differs) | Agent | IDE |
| Pricing | FREEMIUM | FREEMIUM |
| License (differs) | Open core | Proprietary |
| Deployment (differs) | — | Local |
| Platforms (differs) | VS Code extension | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Model support (differs) | BYO key / model | Multi-model |
| Vendor (differs) | Roo Code | Cognition |
The honest brief
Roo Code
Forked from Cline to push harder on autonomy and configurability, staying fully open and model-agnostic with no vendor lock-in.
- Custom role-based modes with own prompts
- Modes hand off mid-task
- Run frontier APIs or a local model
- Direct file and terminal access
- API token costs are on you
- Autonomy needs careful approval review
- Centered on VS Code and forks
Windsurf
Cascade plans before it edits, paying off on multi-file changes — with a cleaner, less busy UX than rivals.
- Cascade agent plans then acts
- Strong multi-file change handling
- Good terminal integration
- Bundled model spend in subscription
- Closed source
- Ownership upheaval (acquisition saga)
- Usage limits on lower tiers
- Smaller extension base than VS Code