Amazon Q Developer vs Windsurf

as AI assistants see them, week of 2026-09-14

brag about it: X · LinkedIn

Windsurf currently outscores Amazon Q Developer, with an overall score of 25 versus 12, and it shows up more often too: 28 of 70 answers compared to 16 of 70. Both get named in every answer to "What are the top AI coding assistants in 2026?" and "What are the best AI coding assistants?", but Windsurf pulls further ahead as a top pick for AI code editors and codebase-wide coding agents. Head-to-head, Windsurf is named more often in 8 questions, Amazon Q Developer in 3, with 9 ties. Neither is ever mentioned for reliable code, local/private use, test writing, or beginner-friendliness.

Head to head

metric	Amazon Q Developer	Windsurf
score	12	25
questions won	6	11

By assistant

Amazon Q Developer

assistant	score	named in, this week	usual spot, this week
ChatGPT	7	15% of answers	#8.7
Claude	11	20% of answers	#6.3
Gemini	25	50% of answers	#7.6
Perplexity	11	20% of answers	#6.3

Windsurf

assistant	score	named in, this week	usual spot, this week
ChatGPT	11	20% of answers	#7.0
Claude	26	45% of answers	#5.9
Gemini	54	80% of answers	#4.3
Perplexity	24	35% of answers	#4.0

Where they differ

Only Amazon Q Developer gets named for

Which AI coding assistant is best for professional developers?

Only Windsurf gets named for

What's the best AI code editor right now?
What are the best AI coding agents that can work across a whole codebase?
What's the best AI tool for writing and fixing React and Next.js code?
What's the best AI coding assistant for a solo developer building a SaaS?
What's the best AI coding assistant for building mobile apps?
What's the best AI coding assistant for Python?

More comparisons

Not sold on either?

Scores count how often each assistant names a product, weighted by position. How the score works · Full AI coding assistants leaderboard