Windsurf vs Lovable
Agentic IDE (formerly Codeium) — Cascade AI flow + SWE-1.5 model
vs. AI app builder with shared team workspace — unlimited users per plan
Pricing tiers
Windsurf
Free
Daily + weekly refresh of basic quota. Includes SWE-1.5 + Cascade (limited) + Tab.
Free
Light
Unlimited with daily + weekly refresh. Free higher quota tier.
$0 base (usage-based)
Pro
$20/month. All premium models. Fast Context. Usage billed at API price.
$20/mo
Teams
$40/user/month. Team + admin dashboard + RBAC.
$40/mo
Max
$200/month. Unlimited + all features.
$200/mo
Enterprise
Custom. Unlimited + SSO + SOC 2 + on-prem option.
Custom
Lovable
Free
Limited features baseline. Try out and build small demos.
Free
Pro
$25/month (shared across unlimited users). 100 credits/mo + 5 daily (up to 150/mo). Custom domains, remove Lovable badge, user roles.
$25/mo
Business
$50/month (shared). Everything in Pro + Internal publish, SSO, Team workspace, personal projects, design templates, security center.
$50/mo
Enterprise
Custom (platform fee by company size). Covers all employees. Volume credits, dedicated support, onboarding, SCIM, audit logs.
Custom
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing free on Windsurf vs free on Lovable.
| Metric | Windsurf | Lovable |
|---|---|---|
| No overlapping quota metrics for these tiers. | ||
Features
Windsurf · 13 features
- Bring Your Own Key — Use your OpenAI/Anthropic/Azure keys to bypass quotas.
- Cascade — AI agent flow with read/write tool use across files.
- Chat Panel — Sidebar chat with codebase context.
- Command (inline edit) — Ctrl/Cmd+I → natural language edits.
- Deploys — One-click deployment to Netlify + custom targets.
- Fast Context — Optimized context retrieval engine for codebase queries.
- Image Input — Drag screenshots into chat for context.
- MCP Support — Hook MCP servers for extended tools.
- Memories — Persistent notes Cascade can refer to.
- Previews — Live preview pane inside IDE for web apps.
- Tab Completions — Next-edit + inline completions, multi-cursor aware.
- Terminal Integration — Cascade reads + writes terminal. Confirms risky ops.
- .windsurfrules — Project-level system prompts.
Lovable · 16 features
- Connect External APIs — Chat: "connect OpenAI API" → done.
- Custom Domains — Publish at yourbrand.com.
- Design Templates — Pre-made design systems (Business tier).
- GitHub 2-way Sync — Commit from Lovable or edit in repo — reflects both ways.
- Image/Sketch to UI — Upload screenshot → get matching UI.
- Internal Publish — Deploy internally only (Business tier).
- Live Preview — See the app live while iterating.
- Prompt-to-App — Natural language → running React app.
- Remove Lovable Badge — White-label output — no Lovable branding.
- SCIM Provisioning (Ent) — Directory sync.
- Security Center — Audit + permissions console (Business+).
- Stripe Integration — Built-in Stripe payments setup.
- Supabase Native — First-class Supabase auth + DB integration.
- Team Workspace — Shared projects + roles.
- User Roles — Role-based access control.
- Visual Edit — Click element → describe change.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Windsurf | Lovable |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | Windsurf CLI | — |
| REST | — | Lovable API (preview) |
| MCP | MCP Support | — |
| OTHER | JetBrains / Xcode / Eclipse / Neovim Plugins, Windsurf Desktop App, .windsurfrules | GitHub 2-way sync, Lovable Web App, Supabase Native |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Windsurf and Lovable may be affiliate links — Staxly may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.
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