Claude Code
Coding assistants · Paid- Commercial use
- Commercial use allowed
- Free plan
- Paid onlyClaude's Free plan doesn't include Claude Code
- Ship free-plan output?
- No free plan
- Engines
- Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Claude Code vs Windsurf
Facts from each vendor's published pages, checked . Compare different tools →
Our ranking
In Coding assistants, Windsurf ranks #3 and Claude Code ranks #4. Its maker, Cognition, was placed a Challenger (not a Leader) in Gartner's 2026 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise AI Coding Agents. Gartner assesses the vendor, not only Windsurf. Gartner MQ coverage (Virtualization Review)
Windsurf
Coding assistants · Free tier + paid- Commercial use
- Commercial use allowed
- Free plan
- Free planFree $0 plan
- Ship free-plan output?
- Yes
- Engines
- Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Bottom line for game devs
- Commercial use: both commercial use allowed (Claude Code terms; Windsurf terms).
- Free plan: Claude Code: paid only (Claude's Free plan doesn't include Claude Code) pricing. Windsurf: free plan (Free $0 plan) pricing.
- Shipping free-plan output in a paid game: only Windsurf allows it, per their published terms.
- API and MCP: Claude Code: public API, connects to MCP servers. Windsurf: API not applicable, connects to MCP servers.
- Engine integrations stated by the vendor: both: none stated (standard file export).
Best for
An AI coding agent in your terminal or IDE
Agentic coding with unlimited free tab completions
What it does
Anthropic's coding agent: reads your codebase, edits files and runs commands from the terminal, IDE extensions (VS Code, JetBrains), a desktop app or the browser; usable for gameplay code in any language or engine.
AI code editor with agentic coding and unlimited tab completions on the free plan.
Verdict
For devs who want an agent that edits and runs game code from the terminal or IDE; it needs a paid Claude plan or an API account, and Anthropic's terms assign output rights to you.
For an AI code editor whose free plan includes unlimited tab completions; its terms assign output rights to you.
Tasks
Coding assistants
Coding assistants
Engines
Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Any (standard file export / engine-agnostic)
Free plan●
Paid only Claude's Free plan doesn't include Claude Code
Free plan Free $0 plan
Pricing
Included in Claude Pro (US$20/month, or US$17/month billed annually at US$200 up front), Max (from US$100/month), Team (standard seat US$25/month, or US$20/month billed annually) and Enterprise; or billed by API token use through an Anthropic Console account. source
Free $0/month; Pro $20/month; a $200/month tier; Teams $80/month plus $40/month per full seat. source
Export formats
n/a (code in your repo)
n/a (code in your repo)
Commercial use
Commercial use allowed
Consumer Terms (individual accounts, effective 8 October 2025): "we assign to you all of our right, title, and interest—if any—in Outputs." Commercial Terms (organisations and API customers, effective 17 June 2025): the customer owns its Outputs, Anthropic assigns its rights (if any), may not train models on customer content, and defends customers against covered third-party claims (section K). source
Consumer Terms (individual accounts, effective 8 October 2025): "we assign to you all of our right, title, and interest—if any—in Outputs." Commercial Terms (organisations and API customers, effective 17 June 2025): the customer owns its Outputs, Anthropic assigns its rights (if any), may not train models on customer content, and defends customers against covered third-party claims (section K). source
Commercial use allowed
Individual terms 3.1: Cognition assigns to you all right, title and interest in Output. source
Individual terms 3.1: Cognition assigns to you all right, title and interest in Output. source
Revenue share / caps
Not stated by vendor
Not stated by vendor
API●
Available. Can run on the Claude API with an Anthropic Console account, billed by token use source
Not applicable. Editor product
MCP server
Connects to MCP servers. Connects to MCP servers source
Connects to MCP servers. Cascade connects to stdio, HTTP and SSE MCP servers source
Last checked
Rows marked ● differ between the two tools. Licence badges: green = commercial use allowed (including any free plan or trial), amber = paid plans only, restricted, or allowed but with no free plan, red = not allowed, grey = not stated by vendor or not applicable. Read the vendor's current terms before you ship.