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Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf?

310 points skarat | 10 comments | 12 May 25 04:41 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom

Things are changing so fast with these vscode forks I m barely able to keep up. Which one are you guys using currently? How does the autocomplete etc, compare between the two?
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outcoldman ◴[12 May 25 05:26 UTC] No.43959889[source]▶
I really like Zed. Have not tried any of the mentioned by op. Zed I feel like is getting somewhere that can replace Sublime Text completely (but not there yet).
replies(1): >>43960188 #
bilekas ◴[12 May 25 06:28 UTC] No.43960188[source]▶
Zed is an editor firslty.. The Ops has mentioned options which are AI development "agents" basically.
replies(1): >>43960348 #
mirekrusin ◴[12 May 25 07:05 UTC] No.43960348[source]▶
AI aided development has first class support in Zed.

Ie. it's not a "plugin" but built-in ecosystem developed by core team.

Speed of iterations on new features is quite impressive.

Their latest agentic editing update basically brought claude code cli to the editor.

Most corporations don't have direct access to arbitrary LLMs but through Microsoft's Github's Copilot they do – and you can use models through copilot and other providers like Ollama – which is great for work.

With their expertise (team behind pioneering tech like electron, atom, teletype, tree sitter, building their own gpu based cross platform ui etc.) and velocity it seems that they're positioned to outpace competition.

Personally I'd say that their tech is maybe two orders of magnitude more valuable than windsurf?

replies(1): >>43960670 #
1. bilekas ◴[12 May 25 08:10 UTC] No.43960670[source]▶
I don't dispite Zed is great, I actually am using it myself, but it's an editor first and foremost. The OP, to me at least seems to be asking more-so about the AI agent comparisons.
replies(1): >>43960820 #
2. drcongo ◴[12 May 25 08:33 UTC] No.43960820[source]▶
Cursor and Windsurf are both forks of VS Code, an editor.
replies(1): >>43961366 #
3. bilekas ◴[12 May 25 10:09 UTC] No.43961366[source]▶
Yes very observant, modified forks with their agents built in. Zed does not have any built in, sublime does not have agents built in but if you like you can continue this disingenuous discussion.
replies(3): >>43961458 #>>43961687 #>>43962253 #
4. frainfreeze ◴[12 May 25 10:24 UTC] No.43961458{3}[source]▶
I was under impression Zed had native LLM integration, built into the editor?
replies(1): >>43962039 #
5. mirekrusin ◴[12 May 25 11:04 UTC] No.43961687{3}[source]▶
Zed has it built in, it's called "agentic editing" [0] and behaves like claude code cli and other agents – mcp based editing, iterating on tests until they pass etc. – where you leave it in a background window and can do something else waiting for completion notification or you can follow it to see what changes it is doing.

It's not only that they have it built in but it seems to be currently the best open replacement for tools like claude code cli because you can use arbitrary llm with it, ie. from ollama and you have great extension points (mcp servers, rules, slash commands etc).

[0] https://zed.dev/agentic

6. venatiodecorus ◴[12 May 25 12:02 UTC] No.43962039{4}[source]▶
yes, its now built in. i haven't had a chance to use it much yet, it was released fairly recently.
replies(1): >>43962100 #
7. mirekrusin ◴[12 May 25 12:12 UTC] No.43962100{5}[source]▶
Agentic editing was released recently yes, llm integration was there for much longer. It supported editing but it was more manual – context of conversation from chat was basically available in in-line editing so you could edit code based on llm output but it was more manual process, now it's agentic.
8. drcongo ◴[12 May 25 12:36 UTC] No.43962253{3}[source]▶
Thank you for your kind offer, I shall take you up on it. Zed does have it built in. Now, please continue your disingenuous conversation by repeatedly claiming something that is demonstrably not true.
replies(1): >>43965485 #
9. drcongo ◴[12 May 25 17:32 UTC] No.43965485{4}[source]▶
Hello? You're not going to continue?
replies(1): >>43966206 #
10. bilekas ◴[12 May 25 18:39 UTC] No.43966206{5}[source]▶
Nah, I can see a losing argument when I see one. In my eyes, the OP was asking about the LLM/AI side and not the editor. But okay, zed now has one built in. I know now.