Bolt.newvsWindsurf
- ✦ Full-stack app generation
- ✦ Deploy from prompt
- ✦ StackBlitz environment
- ✦ Cascade AI agent
- ✦ Full codebase indexing
- ✦ Multi-file editing
Real-World Scenarios: When to Choose Which
The question that matters: “In what situation will I regret choosing A over B after 3 months?”
Full-stack app generation spins up React frontend and Node.js backend from a natural language prompt. One-click deploy pushes live without touching deployment configs.
Describe a payment flow or analytics dashboard. Deploy from prompt produces a working, database-backed prototype in the browser for feature validation before engineering commits.
Cascade monitors terminal output and proposes fixes automatically - compressing feature validation from 40 minutes to 12 minutes per iteration.
Cascade reads assertion errors, inspects related files through multi-file editing, and generates corrected code - often passing on the very first re-run.
Pricing Intelligence
Bolt.new Plans
Free tier available
You get 1M tokens/month, 300K daily limit, Unlimited databases, Public/private projects. What's locked behind the paywall: 10m+ tokens/month, no daily limit, custom domains. If those matter, Pro at $25/mo is the next step. Good enough for solo use and evaluation.
$25/mo gets you 10M+ tokens/month, No daily limit, Custom domains, No Bolt branding. The sweet spot for professionals who've maxed out the free plan and need 10M+ tokens/month, No daily limit.
$30/user/mo gets you Everything in Pro, Team access management, Centralized billing. Team of 5 = $150/mo, team of 10 = $300/mo. 20% more than Pro - justified only if you need the extras.
Windsurf Plans
Free tier available
You get Unlimited inline edits, Unlimited Tab completions, Light agent quota. What's locked behind the paywall: increased quotas, openai, claude, gemini access, full model availability. If those matter, Pro at $20/mo is the next step. Good enough for solo use and evaluation.
$20/mo gets you Increased quotas, OpenAI, Claude, Gemini access, Full model availability. The sweet spot for professionals who've maxed out the free plan and need Increased quotas, OpenAI, Claude, Gemini access.
$40/user/mo gets you Everything in Pro, Team management. Team of 5 = $200/mo, team of 10 = $400/mo. 100% more than Pro - justified only if you need the extras.
Custom pricing for SSO, Custom deployment. Always negotiate - ask for pilot pricing if testing with <50 seats, and push for annual discount commitments. Compare enterprise quotes against Cursor's equivalent tier.
Feature Matrix
19 differences found across 36 standardized features
Pros & Cons Face-Off
Evaluative strengths and weaknesses — not feature lists
- +Free plan available
- +Competitive pricing from $20/mo
- +Growing user base (500K+)
- −AI output quality varies by use case
- −Some advanced features locked behind higher tiers
- +Most generous free tier of any AI IDE
- +Cascade agent rivals Cursor Composer
- +No usage limit on completions
- +Strong VS Code compatibility
- +$15/mo vs Cursor's $20/mo
- −Smaller community than Cursor
- −Fewer model choices than Cursor