Our take
Pick Emergent if builders who will stay on Free at $0 (10 monthly credits) while they run a first Testing Agent, then Standard at $20/month ($17 yearly) when they need 100 credits — not Pro $200/$167 unless they need 750 monthly credits / 1M context. Pick Windsurf if software engineers who want an agent in a VS Code-like desktop and will accept Cognition’s routing. Skip Windsurf if non-developers, or teams that
Best for
Emergent An agent builder you start at a public $
Windsurf Changing a repo in an editor
Free plan
Emergent $0 · / month. 10 free monthly credits. Core platform features. Web and mobile experiences
Windsurf $0 · limited quota
Lowest paid
Emergent Standard $20/mo yearly, or $20 monthly
Windsurf Pro $20/mo
Next step up
Emergent Pro $200/mo yearly
Windsurf Max from $200/mo
Coding agent
Emergent Agent + Tab inside the editor
Windsurf Devin Local
Runs where
Emergent Desktop editor; models hosted
Windsurf
Watch out
Emergent Free is 10 credits/month
Windsurf The name moved
Last checked
Emergent 2026-10-23 · emergent.sh/pricing
Windsurf 2026-10-19 · windsurf.com/pricing
builders who will stay on Free at $0 (10 monthly credits) while they run a first Testing Agent, then Standard at $20/month ($17 yearly) when they need 100 credits — not Pro $200/$167 unless they need 750 monthly credits / 1M context.
Read the Emergent pagesoftware engineers who want an agent in a VS Code-like desktop and will accept Cognition’s routing.
Read the Windsurf page
