Our take
Pick Nova if mac developers who will finish the 30-day trial then keep Nova at US$99 — plus US$49/year if they want updates after year one, not Cursor Plus $8 first unless they want an Agent/Tab VS Code fork, and not if they need Windows or Linux. 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 cannot
Best for
Nova A native Mac IDE you start at a public $
Windsurf Changing a repo in an editor
Free plan
Nova No free plan
Windsurf $0 · limited quota
Lowest paid
Nova Update plan $49/yr
Windsurf Pro $20/mo
Next step up
Nova Coda 1/2 upgrade $79
Windsurf Max from $200/mo
Coding agent
Nova
Windsurf Devin Local
Watch out
Nova macOS-only (15.6+)
Windsurf The name moved
Last checked
Nova 2026-10-23 · nova.app/buy
Windsurf 2026-10-19 · windsurf.com/pricing
mac developers who will finish the 30-day trial then keep Nova at US$99 — plus US$49/year if they want updates after year one, not Cursor Plus $8 first unless they want an Agent/Tab VS Code fork, and not if they need Windows or Linux.
Read the Nova pagesoftware engineers who want an agent in a VS Code-like desktop and will accept Cognition’s routing.
Read the Windsurf page
