Gemini CLI vs Windsurf

Side-by-side comparison — features, pricing, pros and cons

Free

4.1

Command-line interface for Gemini with dramatically better free limits than the API: 60 RPM and 1,000 requests/day with Gemini 3 support.

Features

60 requests/minute (12x better than API)
1,000 requests/day
1 million token context window
Gemini 3 Pro and Flash access
OAuth authentication - no API key needed
+1 more

Pros

Best free limits available - 60 RPM
12x better than standard API limits
No API key or billing setup required
Gemini 3 access included
1M token context window

Cons

CLI only - no GUI
Requires npm installation
OAuth required for authentication
Daily limits on Gemini 3 Pro not published

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Windsurf

Freemium

4.0

AI code editor by Codeium built around the Cascade agent architecture, where the AI maintains a persistent understanding of your entire coding session rather than responding to isolated prompts. Cascade can plan and execute multi-step tasks while the developer continues working, with "flows" that track intent across file edits, terminal commands, and test results. Priced at $15–30/mo as a direct Cursor competitor.

Category:AI Coding

Features

Cascade agent with persistent session context across files, terminal, and tests
Flows: continuous AI task tracking that persists through developer interruptions
Windsurf Tab: context-aware multi-line code completion with cross-file awareness
Inline editing with natural language instructions on selected code
Built-in terminal with AI command suggestions and error explanations
+3 more

Pros

Cascade's session persistence means you can pause a multi-hour task and resume without losing AI context
Freemium tier is more generous than Cursor — 5 Cascade flows per day at no cost
Codeium autocomplete is lightweight and fast, consuming fewer resources than Copilot on low-RAM machines
Flows architecture is better suited to iterative feature development than one-shot Composer-style prompts

Cons

Smaller user base than Cursor (estimated 200K vs 1M+) means fewer community resources and extensions
Cascade can lose track of intent in flows longer than ~2 hours, requiring a manual context reset
No JetBrains support as of Q1 2026 — VS Code-based only
Pro plan ($15/mo) limits Cascade flows to 30/month; $30/mo for 90 flows
Codeium's model quality trails Claude and GPT-4o on complex reasoning tasks in the AI chat

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Tool	Gemini CLIView details →	WindsurfView details →
Pricing	Free	Freemium
Rating	4.1	4.0
Category	—	AI Coding
Description	Command-line interface for Gemini with dramatically better free limits than the API: 60 RPM and 1,000 requests/day with Gemini 3 support.	AI code editor by Codeium built around the Cascade agent architecture, where the AI maintains a persistent understanding of your entire coding session rather than responding to isolated prompts. Cascade can plan and execute multi-step tasks while the developer continues working, with "flows" that track intent across file edits, terminal commands, and test results. Priced at $15–30/mo as a direct Cursor competitor.
Features
60 requests/minute (12x better than API)
1,000 requests/day
1 million token context window
Gemini 3 Pro and Flash access
OAuth authentication - no API key needed
Interactive chat mode
Cascade agent with persistent session context across files, terminal, and tests
Flows: continuous AI task tracking that persists through developer interruptions
Windsurf Tab: context-aware multi-line code completion with cross-file awareness
Inline editing with natural language instructions on selected code
Built-in terminal with AI command suggestions and error explanations
Codeium autocomplete engine (150M+ parameters, trained on code-specific data)
Live preview for web projects with AI-assisted CSS/layout adjustments
Team collaboration with shared AI configuration and context
Pros
	Best free limits available - 60 RPM 12x better than standard API limits No API key or billing setup required Gemini 3 access included 1M token context window	Cascade's session persistence means you can pause a multi-hour task and resume without losing AI context Freemium tier is more generous than Cursor — 5 Cascade flows per day at no cost Codeium autocomplete is lightweight and fast, consuming fewer resources than Copilot on low-RAM machines Flows architecture is better suited to iterative feature development than one-shot Composer-style prompts
Cons
	CLI only - no GUI Requires npm installation OAuth required for authentication Daily limits on Gemini 3 Pro not published	Smaller user base than Cursor (estimated 200K vs 1M+) means fewer community resources and extensions Cascade can lose track of intent in flows longer than ~2 hours, requiring a manual context reset No JetBrains support as of Q1 2026 — VS Code-based only Pro plan ($15/mo) limits Cascade flows to 30/month; $30/mo for 90 flows Codeium's model quality trails Claude and GPT-4o on complex reasoning tasks in the AI chat
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