Roo Code vs Windsurf
A side-by-side comparison of Roo Code and Windsurf — pricing, free tiers, and who each tool is genuinely best for.
| Tagline | AI coding agent with multi-mode and multi-model support | Agentic IDE with Cascade flows that keep you and the AI in sync |
| Category | AI Coding | AI Coding |
| Pricing | Free and open-source; costs depend on LLM API usage | Free tier; Pro from ~$15/user/mo; Teams/Enterprise tiers above |
| Free tier | ||
| Best for | Power users who want a flexible, open-source agent with specialized modes and multi-model support for complex coding workflows | Developers wanting an AI-native IDE with tightly integrated agentic flows and a generous free tier. |
| Not for | Teams needing a managed SaaS solution with enterprise support, compliance, or centralized billing | Teams that prefer to keep their existing editor and just bolt on completions. |
| Use cases | Architect mode for high-level system design Debug mode for iterative error diagnosis Multi-model task orchestration with sub-agents Open-source self-hosted AI agent customization | Agentic multi-step edits Codebase-aware autocomplete Feature implementation Refactoring AI chat over your project |
| Visit Roo Code | Visit Windsurf |