AI coding assistants · November 2026 Edition
Windsurf vs Aider
Zero of fourteen models named Windsurf first on the direct prompt; zero named Aider. Windsurf was named by eleven of the fourteen models and Aider by nine and Windsurf carries 27 labels and Aider 14, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share4%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate11%7%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#5A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels2714A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Windsurf reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.GitHub Copilot was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. GitHub Copilot vs Windsurf · GitHub Copilot vs Aider · Windsurf vs Tabnine
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the AI coding assistants page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
WindsurfFirst choices, of fourteen modelsAider
Direct00
Paraphrase001 against Windsurf
Comparative10
Budget-constrained21
Scale-constrained00
Negative002 against Windsurf · 1 against Aider
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Windsurf and Aider stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | ||||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | |||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | ||||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | |||
| Mistral Small | ||||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | |||
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | ||||
| Kimi K2 | | | ||||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | |||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | |||||
| GPT-6 Luna | ||||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | |
Windsurf Aider first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Windsurf on the left and Aider on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Windsurf and Aider stood in it.
Neither was the first choice, one was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Gemini 3.5 FlashGitHub Copilot alternatives: Cursor, Tabnine, Windsurf
Llama 4 MaverickGitHub Copilot alternatives: Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf
GLM 4.7 FlashXGitHub Copilot alternatives: Tabnine, Windsurf
Neither was named
11 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5Claude, GitHub Copilot
GPT-5.4 miniGitHub Copilot Business or Enterprise alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Cursor
Perplexity SonarGitHub Copilot alternatives: Claude Code, Cursor, Tabnine
Grok 4.20GitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Anthropic, Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini Code Assist
Mistral SmallGitHub Copilot alternatives: Claude Code, Cursor, Superblocks
DeepSeek V4 FlashGitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Claude Code, Cursor, Sourcegraph Cody
Qwen 3.7 FlashGitHub Copilot alternatives: Anthropic, Augment Code, Claude Code, Cursor
Kimi K2GitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Tabnine
MiniMax M2.5GitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Claude Code, Cursor, Sourcegraph Cody
GPT-6 LunaGitHub Copilot alternatives: Claude Code, Cursor
Muse Glimmer 30BGitHub Copilot alternatives: Amazon Q Developer, Cursor, Tabnine
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Mid-marketThe figures above
Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
Windsurf0%#8 of 9Aider0%#– of 9What the models said about Windsurf
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“the individual version collects data by default, while enterprise versions offer zero-data-retention” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“cloud versions still risk data exfil. Some studies show similar vuln introduction rates.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Free tier available, but less capable on complex tasks per benchmark studies” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Codeium — Best Overall for Small Teams ... If you want zero cost and basic autocomplete: Go with Codeium.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · first choice
“Pick Cursor or Windsurf if: You want the most seamless experience for multi-file refactoring” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Start with Codeium (Free). Ask your engineers to try the free version.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about Aider
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Be particularly cautious with: Autonomous agent modes in tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Aider, Devin, and Copilot Workspace” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“Start by installing Cline (in VS Code) or Aider (in terminal)” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“A free, open-source tool that is also vendor-independent and allows you to bring your own API key.” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · alternative
“Best for: Terminal-centric developers who want lightweight, transparent AI assistance” DeepSeek V4 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
Also compared
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.