Can I use Kilo Code alongside Windsurf?

Yes! Since Kilo is a VS Code extension and Windsurf is a standalone editor, you can run both to compare features before fully switching.

Is Windsurf's Supercomplete better than Kilo's autocomplete?

Windsurf's Supercomplete predicts multi-line edits on existing code, Tab-to-jump navigates to the next edit, and Tab-to-import adds dependencies — these are genuine advantages over standard inline autocomplete. However, these features are exclusive to the Windsurf Editor and don't work in JetBrains. Kilo uses Codestral for inline FIM autocomplete with more models coming.

How does Kilo's pricing compare to Windsurf's credit system?

Kilo charges per token at exact provider rates with zero markup. Windsurf uses a credit system (1 credit = $0.04) with different multipliers per model and per plan tier, plus ~20% markup on BYOK. Kilo's pricing is more transparent and typically cheaper.

Why can't I use BYOK on Windsurf Teams?

Windsurf's BYOK is limited to individual (Free/Pro) plans only. Teams and Enterprise plans don't support BYOK. Additionally, Anthropic refused to supply Claude models directly to Windsurf, so Claude 4+ requires a BYOK workaround. Kilo supports BYOK on all plans with all providers.

How does team pricing compare?

Kilo Teams costs $15/user/mo with full BYOK, code review, and AI at provider cost. Windsurf Teams is $30/user/mo with 500 credits/user, no BYOK, and SSO costs an extra $10/user. Kilo is 50% cheaper with more flexibility.

What are the model routing concerns with Windsurf?

Independent testing raised concerns that Windsurf may route requests for premium models to cheaper alternatives. Since Windsurf is closed-source, there's no way to verify which model actually processes your request. Kilo is open source — you can inspect every prompt and verify every model call.

Is Kilo ready for enterprise use?

Kilo has 1.5M+ users and is SOC 2 certified. We offer centralized billing, usage analytics, role-based access, SSO/SAML, and dedicated support. Windsurf has broader certifications (HIPAA, FedRAMP) and 4,000+ enterprise customers.

Updated March 2026

Kilo Code vs Windsurf

The open-source 500+-model platform in your IDE vs the standalone AI-native editor with credit-based pricing. An honest comparison.

Pricing

Kilo Code

$0/month

BYOK free or pay-as-you-go at cost

Windsurf

$15/mo (credits)

Free: 25 credits/mo (~6–25 prompts)

AI Models

Kilo Code

500+

60+ providers, zero markup

Windsurf

~8 built-in

+ BYOK (individual only, 20% markup)

BYOK Coverage

Kilo Code

All plans, all features

0% markup on provider rates

Windsurf

Free/Pro only

Not on Teams/Enterprise, 20% markup

Editor

Kilo Code

VS Code, JetBrains, CLI

Extension — keep your setup

Windsurf

Windsurf Editor

Standalone VS Code fork

Open Source

Kilo Code

Apache-2.0, full transparency

Windsurf

Fully closed source

	Kilo Code	Windsurf
Pricing	$0/month BYOK free or pay-as-you-go at cost	$15/mo (credits) Free: 25 credits/mo (~6–25 prompts)
AI Models	500+ 60+ providers, zero markup	~8 built-in + BYOK (individual only, 20% markup)
BYOK Coverage	All plans, all features 0% markup on provider rates	Free/Pro only Not on Teams/Enterprise, 20% markup
Editor	VS Code, JetBrains, CLI Extension — keep your setup	Windsurf Editor Standalone VS Code fork
Open Source	Apache-2.0, full transparency	Fully closed source

Try Kilo Code Free

See Full Comparison

Where Kilo Code Wins

Works inside your existing IDE

Kilo is a VS Code extension + JetBrains plugin + CLI. Keep your settings, extensions, themes. Windsurf’s full Tab experience (Supercomplete, Tab-to-jump, Tab-to-import) is exclusive to their standalone editor — JetBrains plugin only gets basic autocomplete.

500+ models at exact provider rates

Access any model from 60+ providers with zero markup. Windsurf offers ~5–8 built-in models and bills via a credit system where 1 credit = $0.04.

Transparent pricing, no credit system

Pay per token at exact provider rates. Windsurf’s credit system is confusing: some models cost flat credits per prompt, others use token-based billing at provider rate + 20% markup. Different credit multipliers per model per plan tier.

Full BYOK on all plans and features

Bring your own keys for any provider on any plan. Windsurf’s BYOK is limited to individual (Free/Pro) plans only — not available on Teams/Enterprise. And Anthropic refused direct Claude model access, so Claude 4+ requires BYOK workaround.

Fully open source (Apache-2.0)

Inspect every prompt, verify no model substitution, see context window sizes. Windsurf is closed-source, and independent testing raised concerns about potential model routing discrepancies.

No editor switch + full JetBrains support

Full Kilo experience in all JetBrains IDEs natively. Windsurf’s JetBrains plugin only includes Cascade + basic autocomplete — not the full Tab experience (Supercomplete, Tab-to-jump, etc.).

More features included free

Deploy, App Builder, Slack bot, Voice Prompting, Code Reviewer — all included at no cost. Windsurf charges for deploys (1/day free, 5/day Pro) and doesn’t offer built-in deployment or app builder.

Where Windsurf Wins

Supercomplete & Tab-to-jump (in Editor)

Windsurf Tab goes beyond autocomplete: Supercomplete predicts multi-line edits on existing code, Tab-to-jump navigates to next edit location, Tab-to-import adds dependencies. This is exclusive to the Windsurf Editor. Kilo’s autocomplete is inline FIM only.

SWE-1.5 proprietary model

Windsurf’s in-house model achieves near-SOTA on SWE-bench (78% Verified) with fast inference. SWE-1.5 Free is available at zero credits. Kilo doesn’t have a proprietary coding model.

Cascade agent with Turbo Mode

Cascade combines deep codebase understanding with real-time awareness of your actions and auto-executes terminal commands in Turbo Mode. Kilo’s Orchestrator is powerful but Cascade’s flow-state UX is notably smooth.

Auto-fix lint errors

Cascade automatically detects and fixes lint errors it generates during coding. Kilo has automatic failure recovery but Windsurf’s lint integration is more polished.

Memories feature

Cascade remembers important things about your codebase and workflow persistently. Similar to Kilo’s Memory Bank but more tightly integrated into the Cascade flow.

4,000+ enterprise customers

Windsurf (Codeium) has deep enterprise penetration with HIPAA and FedRAMP certifications. Kilo has 1.5M+ users but Windsurf’s enterprise security certifications are broader.

Trusted by developers at the world's most innovative companies

Why developers are switching to Kilo Code

Transparent pricing. Your existing IDE. 500+ models. Open source. Full BYOK.

Your IDE, Your Way

VS Code extension + JetBrains plugin + CLI. No editor switch. Full experience everywhere.

500+ Models

60+ providers. No credit system. Pay exact provider rates with zero markup.

Full BYOK Everywhere

Your API keys on all plans, all features. $0 platform fee, 0% markup.

Open Source

Apache-2.0. Verify every model call. No routing discrepancies. Full transparency.

Pricing: Kilo Code vs Windsurf

Kilo: pay-per-token at provider rates. Windsurf: credit system (1 credit = $0.04) with model-specific multipliers.

Free

BYOK or free models — all features, unlimited

25 credits/mo + SWE-1 Lite unlimited + 1 deploy/day

Pro Individual

Pay-as-you-go or Kilo Pass $19–$199/mo (+50% bonus)

$15/mo — 500 credits + SWE-1.5 + 5 deploys/day

Teams

$15/user/mo + AI at provider cost. Full BYOK. Code review included.

$30/user/mo — 500 credits/user. No BYOK. SSO +$10/user.

Enterprise

Contact sales + usage at cost

Custom — 1,000 credits/user/mo + RBAC + SSO

Specialized agent modes Windsurf doesn't have

Orchestrator, Architect, Debug, Code, and Ask — each purpose-built for your workflow.

Agentic Engineering

Glide through your workflow with a mode for every step

Ask mode

A knowledgeable technical assistant focused on answering questions without changing your codebase

Full Feature Comparison

Every feature, side by side — with honest notes on where each tool has the edge

Tab Autocomplete & Code Completion

Inline tab completions

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Proprietary model

Multi-line completions

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Supercomplete

Supercomplete (predict edits on existing code)

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Editor-exclusive

Tab-to-jump (navigate to next edit)

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Editor-exclusive

Tab-to-import (auto-add dependencies)

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Editor-exclusive

Autocomplete model choice

Kilo Code

Expanding

Windsurf

Proprietary model only

Free completions

Kilo Code

Unlimited (BYOK)

Windsurf

Unlimited on all plans

Full Tab in JetBrains

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Autocomplete only, no Supercomplete

AI Chat & Agentic Capabilities

AI chat / agent in IDE

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Cascade

Agent mode (autonomous coding)

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Cascade agent

Turbo mode (auto-execute commands)

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Turbo Mode

Cloud agents

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Plan mode

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Partial

Via Cascade flow

Dedicated debug mode

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Via Cascade

Custom modes / rules

Kilo Code

Windsurf

.windsurf/rules

Memory / context persistence

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Memories feature

Voice prompting

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Slack integration

Kilo Code

Windsurf

MCP support

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Curated MCP servers

Drag & drop images for design

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Drop image into Cascade

Model Access & Flexibility

Total models available

Kilo Code

500+

Windsurf

~8 built-in

SWE-1.5, Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.

BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)

Kilo Code

All features

Windsurf

Free/Pro only

Not on Teams/Enterprise

BYOK markup

Kilo Code

Windsurf

~20% markup

Local model support

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Proprietary coding model

Kilo Code

Windsurf

SWE-1.5 (78% SWE-bench)

Free model available

Kilo Code

Windsurf

SWE-1.5 Free, SWE-1 Lite

Model cost transparency

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Partial

Credit system (1 credit = $0.04)

Claude models direct access

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Partial

BYOK only — Anthropic refused direct

Code Review & DevOps

Automated code review

Kilo Code

Windsurf

One-click deployment

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Partial

Limited deploys/day

Visual App Builder

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Managed codebase indexing

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Fast Context (SWE-grep)

IDE & Platform Support

VS Code (as extension)

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Windsurf IS the IDE

Standalone editor

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Windsurf Editor (VS Code fork)

JetBrains IDEs (full experience)

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Partial

Cascade + basic autocomplete only

CLI tool

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Cross-device session sync

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Slack bot

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Pricing

Free tier

Kilo Code

Free (BYOK or free models)

Windsurf

25 credits/mo + SWE-1 Lite

+ 1 deploy/day

Individual paid

Kilo Code

Pay-as-you-go

Windsurf

$15/mo (500 credits)

+ 5 deploys/day

Optional subscription

Kilo Code

$19–$199/mo (+50% bonus)

Windsurf

$10/250 credits add-on

Team plan

Kilo Code

$15/user/mo

Windsurf

$30/user/mo

500 credits/user + SSO ($10 extra)

BYOK on team plans

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Individual only

Rate limits

Kilo Code

None

Windsurf

Credit-based

$10/250 credits when exhausted

Open Source, Privacy & Trust

Open source

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Fully closed source

Visible prompts & context

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Opaque

Model verification

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Routing concerns raised

SOC 2 certified

Kilo Code

Windsurf

HIPAA / FedRAMP

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Both available

Data used for training

Kilo Code

Never

Windsurf

Never (with ZDR)

Anthropic model access

Kilo Code

Windsurf

Partial

BYOK only — Anthropic refused

Tab Autocomplete & Code Completion

Feature	Windsurf	Kilo Code
Inline tab completions	Proprietary model
Multi-line completions	Supercomplete
Supercomplete (predict edits on existing code)	Editor-exclusive
Tab-to-jump (navigate to next edit)	Editor-exclusive
Tab-to-import (auto-add dependencies)	Editor-exclusive
Autocomplete model choice	Proprietary model only	Expanding
Free completions	Unlimited on all plans	Unlimited (BYOK)
Full Tab in JetBrains	Autocomplete only, no Supercomplete

AI Chat & Agentic Capabilities

Feature	Windsurf	Kilo Code
AI chat / agent in IDE	Cascade
Agent mode (autonomous coding)	Cascade agent
Turbo mode (auto-execute commands)	Turbo Mode
Cloud agents
Plan mode	Partial Via Cascade flow
Dedicated debug mode	Via Cascade
Custom modes / rules	.windsurf/rules
Memory / context persistence	Memories feature
Voice prompting
Slack integration
MCP support	Curated MCP servers
Drag & drop images for design	Drop image into Cascade

Model Access & Flexibility

Feature	Windsurf	Kilo Code
Total models available	~8 built-in SWE-1.5, Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.	500+
BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)	Free/Pro only Not on Teams/Enterprise	All features
BYOK markup	~20% markup	0%
Local model support
Proprietary coding model	SWE-1.5 (78% SWE-bench)
Free model available	SWE-1.5 Free, SWE-1 Lite
Model cost transparency	Partial Credit system (1 credit = $0.04)
Claude models direct access	Partial BYOK only — Anthropic refused direct

Code Review & DevOps

Feature	Windsurf	Kilo Code
Automated code review
One-click deployment	Partial Limited deploys/day
Visual App Builder
Managed codebase indexing	Fast Context (SWE-grep)

IDE & Platform Support

Feature	Windsurf	Kilo Code
VS Code (as extension)	Windsurf IS the IDE
Standalone editor	Windsurf Editor (VS Code fork)
JetBrains IDEs (full experience)	Partial Cascade + basic autocomplete only
CLI tool
Cross-device session sync
Slack bot

Pricing

Feature	Windsurf	Kilo Code
Free tier	25 credits/mo + SWE-1 Lite + 1 deploy/day	Free (BYOK or free models)
Individual paid	$15/mo (500 credits) + 5 deploys/day	Pay-as-you-go
Optional subscription	$10/250 credits add-on	$19–$199/mo (+50% bonus)
Team plan	$30/user/mo 500 credits/user + SSO ($10 extra)	$15/user/mo
BYOK on team plans	Individual only
Rate limits	Credit-based $10/250 credits when exhausted	None

Open Source, Privacy & Trust

Feature	Windsurf	Kilo Code
Open source	Fully closed source
Visible prompts & context	Opaque
Model verification	Routing concerns raised
SOC 2 certified
HIPAA / FedRAMP	Both available
Data used for training	Never (with ZDR)	Never
Anthropic model access	Partial BYOK only — Anthropic refused

Sources: kilo.ai, kilo.ai/pricing, kilo.ai/docs | windsurf.com, windsurf.com/pricing, windsurf.com/tab, windsurf.com/changelog, docs.windsurf.com/windsurf/models. All data as of March 2026. BYOK limitations from Windsurf docs + changelog. Anthropic access issue from public reporting.

Switch in under 5 minutes

No complicated setup. Use your current editor. No risk.

Install Kilo Code

Keep using VS Code, switch to JetBrains, or use the CLI. Install Kilo in one click.

1 min

Choose Your Models

Pick from 500+ models or use your existing API keys. Start with our recommendations.

1 min

Start Building

Everything works instantly. Try the agent modes to see what you've been missing.

Immediate

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Common Questions

Honest answers about switching from Windsurf to Kilo Code

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Kilo Code for JetBrains IDEs

AI coding assistant for IntelliJ, PhpStorm, WebStorm, and Rider

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