Cline vs Windsurf
as AI assistants see them, week of 2026-10-12
Windsurf edges ahead overall, scoring 25 out of 100 versus Cline's 18, and shows up in 28 of 70 answers compared with Cline's 23. Windsurf's standout is Gemini, at 54, while Cline's best showing comes from Claude, at 31. Cline gets named in all 3 answers about VS Code and open-source options, and 3 of 4 for free assistants. Windsurf sweeps 4 of 4 answers for top 2026 assistants, best overall assistants, and best code editor. Head-to-head, Windsurf leads in 9 questions, Cline in 6, with 5 tied.
Head to head
| metric | Cline | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| score | 20 | 21 |
| questions won | 18 | 15 |
By assistant
Cline
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 17 | 25% of answers | #4.0 |
| Claude | 34 | 65% of answers | #5.9 |
| Gemini | 2 | 0% of answers | |
| Perplexity | 19 | 37% of answers | #4.6 |
Windsurf
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 12 | 20% of answers | #5.0 |
| Claude | 25 | 40% of answers | #6.1 |
| Gemini | 41 | 45% of answers | #5.4 |
| Perplexity | 16 | 11% of answers | #4.0 |
Where they differ
Only Cline gets named for
- What's the best open-source AI coding assistant?
- What are the best alternatives to Windsurf?
- What's the best AI coding assistant I can run locally for privacy?
- What's the best AI coding assistant for a solo developer building a SaaS?
- Which AI coding tool is best for writing tests?
Only Windsurf gets named for
- What's the best AI coding assistant for Python?
- Which AI coding assistant is best for professional developers?
More comparisons
- Cline vs OpenAI Codex
- Aider vs Cline
- Cline vs Continue
- Cline vs JetBrains AI Assistant
- OpenAI Codex vs Windsurf
- Aider vs Windsurf
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