Windsurf vs
Orbital IDE
Same agentic core as OrbCode CLI. Same Axon models. Same pricing. Just a dedicated desktop IDE with more usage per window and a fraction of the cost.
Orbital runs Axon models that cost ~70% less per token — so every plan passes more rate-limit through to you, at a lower monthly price.
Same core. Same features.
Orbital is the IDE counterpart of OrbCode CLI — same agentic loop, same Axon models, same pricing. A few places Orbital goes further.
| Feature | Windsurf | Orbital IDE |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | Standalone IDE (VS Code fork) | Dedicated IDE + VS Code extension + CLI |
| Default context window | 200K tokens | 400K tokens (2x) |
| Autonomous agent mode | Cascade (limited steps) | Full autonomy · multi-step |
| Native tools (read, edit, search, exec, web) | Full tool set | Byte-identical schemas |
| Edit diffs & command approvals | Prompt before write | Prompt + dangerous-cmd lock |
| Headless / non-interactive mode | — | -p flag + --yolo |
| Lifecycle hooks | Limited | PreToolUse, PostToolUse… |
| MCP server support | stdio / http / sse | stdio / http / sse + OAuth |
| Skills (on-demand instruction sets) | — | SKILL.md format |
| Project memory file | .windsurfrules (proprietary) | AGENTS.md (open standard) |
| Bring-your-own model (Anthropic / OpenAI) | Anthropic + OpenAI | Anthropic + OpenAI-compatible + Axon |
| Free model tier | — | Axon Flash (free) |
| Open source license | Closed source | MIT (open source) |
More usage per 5-hour window.
Same agentic workflow, but Axon models cost a fraction of Claude's to run. That saving becomes rate-limit headroom — at every plan, at a lower price.
FreeDeveloperProProTeamsPro PlusEnterpriseMaxPer-window limits are approximate and vary with context length and model choice. Windsurf is per-seat pricing ($/user/mo); Orbital is flat monthly pricing. Orbital figures reflect the lower per-token cost of Axon models, which lets us pass more usage through the same subscription dollar.
Cheaper models. Same intelligence.
The rate-limit advantage comes from raw model economics. Axon output tokens cost up to 5x less than Claude's — savings we pass straight back as usage.
| Model | Input / Mtok | Output / Mtok | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.5 | $10.00 | $30.00 | Windsurf option |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | $3.00 | $15.00 | Windsurf default |
| Axon Eido 3 Code Pro | $3.00 | $9.00 | Frontier · 400k ctx |
| Axon Eido 3 Code Mini | $1.50 | $4.50 | Default · 400k ctx |
| Axon Eido 3 Flash | Free | Free | Free · 200k ctx |
Axon Eido 3 Code Pro at $3 / $9 per Mtok matches Claude Sonnet on input and beats it by 40% on output — at frontier-class quality.
Frontier-class.
Fraction of the price.
Axon Eido 3 Pro goes head-to-head with the most expensive frontier models across 10 industry benchmarks — leading or matching the field on 5 of 10. Hover any bar for the exact score.
Axon Eido 3 Pro
Claude Opus 4.8
GPT-5.5
Gemini 3.1 ProSWE Bench Pro
Real-world software engineering
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1Terminal Bench 2.1
Autonomous terminal tasks
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1VIBE V2
End-to-end app generation
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1SVG-Bench
Vector graphics reasoning
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1KernelBench Hard
GPU kernel optimization
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1BrowseComp
Web browsing & research
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1GDPval Rubrics
Expert knowledge work
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1BankerToolBench
Financial tool use
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1MCP Atlas
MCP tool orchestration
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1OSWorld-verified
Computer-use agents
Axon Eido 3 ProOpus 4.7GPT-5.5Gemini 3.1Scores reported as pass@1 / verified accuracy. Higher is better. Axon Eido 3 Pro at $3 / $9 per Mtok.
Where Orbital pulls ahead.
More rate-limit per window
Axon models cost ~70% less per token, so every plan passes more prompts through the same 5-hour window — at a lower monthly price.
Flat pricing, not per-seat
Orbital is flat monthly pricing. Windsurf charges $15/user/mo — a 10-person team pays $150/mo on Windsurf vs $10/mo on Orbital Pro.
Bring your own model
Orbital supports Anthropic, OpenAI-compatible endpoints, and Axon models via customModels. Use Claude when you want, Axon by default.
Open-standard memory
AGENTS.md works across tools instead of a proprietary .windsurfrules. @include directives resolve recursively so shared team instructions just work.
Free Flash model
A free, low-latency Axon Flash tier for low-complexity day-to-day tasks. No credit card, no usage anxiety — just install and run.
MIT & fully open source
The entire IDE is open source under MIT — audit the agent loop, ship patches, or self-host. Windsurf is closed-source, so you're trusting a black box.
Drop-in IDE replacement.
If you know Windsurf, you know Orbital. Same agent panel, same approvals, same hooks.
Switch from
Windsurf.
Same IDE workflow, same agentic core as OrbCode CLI, and more usage per window — at a fraction of the cost. Download Orbital, sign in once, and ship.