Cursor vs Windsurf vs Antigravity vs Kiro: 2026 IDE Comparison
Four AI coding IDEs, four different bets. Cursor is the established standard. Windsurf is the budget-friendly challenger now under Cognition’s ownership. Google shipped Antigravity as a Gemini-first IDE with a free preview tier. AWS shipped Kiro as a spec-first IDE that lives inside the AWS console, billed through Bedrock. Below: when to pick each, where each shines, and where each falls down.
On this page · 12 sections▾
TL;DR + decision tree
- If you want the most-mature MCP support and the largest plugin ecosystem — Cursor. The standard every other IDE is measured against, and the editor where every server in this directory ships a one-click install.
- If you want a real free tier that doesn’t expire — Windsurf. Cascade rivals Cursor’s Composer for multi-file edits, and Codeium’s inherited autocomplete is still among the fastest. Cognition acquired Windsurf in December 2025, so watch the roadmap.
- If you live in Google Cloud + Gemini — Antigravity. Free during preview as of 2026, knows the shape of Cloud Run / Vertex AI / IAM without you stuffing context, and the brand-of-record stability of Google means it won’t evaporate next quarter.
- If your team is fully on AWS and you write specs — Kiro. Spec-first workflow lines up with AWS Well-Architected reviewers, billing flows through Bedrock model usage, and SOC 2 / HIPAA paths reuse your existing AWS account.
- If you can’t pick one — start with Cursor on the Hobby tier. It’s the lowest-risk first step: free, the largest community, the most MCP servers available, and if you graduate to Pro at $20/month you’re paying the going market rate.
We cover each tool below — feature matrix first, then per-IDE walkthroughs (what it does best, when to pick it, where it shines, when to skip it), then a deep-dive on MCP support and the most common mistakes teams make.
What these IDEs are (and what they aren’t)
All four products in this post are full IDEs — standalone applications you install and run, not extensions inside someone else’s editor. That puts them in the same category as VS Code itself, and a different category from GitHub Copilot, which is a plugin you bolt on. If you’re comparing the autocomplete plugin layer instead, our Cursor Tab vs Copilot vs Codeium vs Tabnine vs Cody piece covers that comparison — different category, different buyers.
Three things matter when comparing AI IDEs, and they’re different from comparing autocomplete plugins:
- Agent quality. Can the IDE coordinate edits across 5+ files from a single prompt, or does it fall over after the first file? Cursor’s Composer, Windsurf’s Cascade, and Antigravity’s Gemini-backed agent all attempt this. Kiro takes a different shape — it asks you to write a spec first, then generates from the spec.
- MCP integration maturity. Can you paste a JSON block into settings and have an MCP server available next prompt? Cursor leads here. Windsurf supports MCP but the install UX is rougher. Antigravity and Kiro have limited MCP surfaces as of 2026 — if MCP is your buying criterion, watch this gap.
- Cloud-account binding. Antigravity is best when you’re already on Google Cloud + Gemini. Kiro is best when you’re already on AWS and using Bedrock. Cursor and Windsurf are cloud-agnostic. Forcing Antigravity onto an AWS shop or Kiro onto a GCP shop loses most of the value proposition.
Side-by-side matrix
Snapshot date: 2026-05-08. Pricing and feature parity move fast in this category — verify on each vendor’s pricing page before you commit a team budget.
| Field | Cursor | Windsurf | Antigravity | Kiro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License model | Proprietary, cloud-only | Proprietary, cloud-only | Proprietary, cloud-only (Google) | Proprietary, cloud-only (AWS) |
| Free tier | ✅ Hobby ($0, capped) | ✅ Free w/ Standard allowance | ✅ Free during preview | ✅ Free IDE; pay for Bedrock usage |
| Pricing | $20/mo Pro · $40/seat Business | $20/mo Pro · $40/seat Teams | Preview = free; post-preview TBD | Bedrock usage charges |
| Models supported | Frontier (Claude, GPT-5, Gemini); proprietary Tab model | Frontier (Claude, GPT-5, Gemini); inherited Codeium model | Gemini Pro / Flash by default | Bedrock catalog (Claude, Llama, Mistral, Titan) |
| MCP support | Most mature (stdio + remote, polished install) | Supported, smaller surface | Limited as of 2026 | Limited as of 2026 |
| Tab / autocomplete | Best-in-class next-edit prediction | Fast Codeium-inherited model | Gemini-based, token-level | Spec-first, deprioritized |
| Composer-style multi-file | ✅ Composer + Agent (mature) | ✅ Cascade (mature) | ✅ Agent mode (newer) | ✅ Spec → multi-file generation |
| On-prem option | ❌ Cloud-only | ❌ Cloud-only | ❌ Google-hosted | ❌ AWS-hosted (within your account) |
| First release | 2022 | 2024 (rebrand of Codeium IDE) | Late 2024 / early 2025 | 2024 / 2025 |
| Strongest for | General devs, MCP power users, any team size | Budget-conscious devs, free-tier loyalists | Google Cloud + Gemini teams | AWS shops, compliance-driven workflows |
Three takeaways from the matrix. Cursor leads on MCP and ecosystem maturity by a comfortable margin in 2026. Windsurf is the only one with a Free tier that’s genuinely usable for full-time work (Antigravity’s preview tier is an open question). Antigravity and Kiro are cloud-account products — both lose half their value if you’re not already on the matching cloud, and both currently lag on MCP support compared to Cursor or Windsurf.
Cursor — what makes it different
What it does best
Cursor is the flagship AI coding IDE — the most mature MCP support, the largest user base, the standard against which other IDEs are measured. Founded in 2022 and reportedly raising over $400M in 2024–25 to push past a multi-billion-dollar valuation, Cursor has had three years to harden its agent and Composer surfaces. Tab autocomplete is the killer feature — it predicts the next edit, not just the next token, including jumps to a different region of the file. Composer coordinates multi-file edits; Agent mode runs longer multi-step tasks. Pricing: Hobby free tier with limits, Pro at $20/month, Business at $40/seat.
Pick this if you...
- Want the most-mature MCP support across IDEs — paste a JSON block into settings, the server appears next prompt, no restart needed. The full setup is documented at /clients/cursor.
- Need Tab autocomplete that predicts the next edit, not just the next token — the headline feature that distinguishes Cursor from every other IDE on this list.
- Ship at any team size — solo, startup, mid-market, or enterprise. Cursor scales pricing and seat management to match.
- Want a large community for plugins, prompts, recipes — r/cursor is the most active subreddit in the AI-IDE category in 2026.
Where it shines: refactoring across 12 files
You need to migrate a feature spread across a dozen files — types updated here, callers updated there, tests updated everywhere. Open Composer, paste the spec, and Cursor opens all 12 files into context, makes coordinated edits, and lets you scrub through each diff before applying. Tab cleans up the residual touch-ups Composer didn’t catch. Test the pattern by asking Cursor to migrate a React class component to hooks across five related files — the change propagates correctly because Composer holds all the files in context simultaneously, not file-by-file.
Skip it if...
Your budget is tight (Cursor Pro is $20/month per developer; the Hobby free tier is capped enough that serious daily use exhausts it quickly), or your team needs strict on-premise hosting — Cursor is cloud-only. If “runs entirely inside our VPC” is a hard requirement, Cursor is the wrong tool and you should be looking at Tabnine’s air-gapped tier.
Source / try it: cursor.com
Windsurf — what makes it different
What it does best
Windsurf is Codeium’s IDE — formerly known under Codeium’s earlier branding, rebranded to Windsurf in 2024. The Free tier is more generous than Cursor’s. The Cascade feature is similar to Cursor’s Composer — multi-file edits coordinated by an agent — and Codeium’s underlying autocomplete is still among the fastest on the market for time-to-first-suggestion. Cognition (the company behind Devin) acquired Windsurf in December 2025, putting it into the Devin family; the IDE’s branding and product surface have continued under the Windsurf name, but watch for roadmap shifts.
Pick this if you...
- Want a real free tier that doesn’t expire — the Standard allowance refreshes regularly, and the Pro feature surface is unusually generous for $0.
- Need cascading multi-file edits and prefer spec-by-spec progression — Cascade is good at “given this spec, build the feature in 4 steps.”
- Care about autocomplete latency — Codeium’s inherited model is small and fast, competitive with Cursor Tab on time-to-first-suggestion if not on next-edit prediction.
- Are comfortable using a tool acquired by Cognition mid-2025 — governance changes are possible, the roadmap may bend toward Devin integration. Test the waters with the free tier first.
- Need Windsurf’s MCP integration for server install — see /clients/windsurf for the install steps.
Where it shines: building a feature spec-by-spec
Windsurf’s Cascade is good at “given this spec, build the feature in 4 steps” — it breaks the work into stages, runs each, surfaces decisions to you for confirmation, and continues. Test by giving it a 200-word feature spec and watching it propose a 5-file plan, ask one clarifying question, then execute. The pattern that surfaces in budget-conscious developer threads on Reddit: “I used Windsurf free for a year before paying anyone, and Cascade was the reason.”
Skip it if...
You need bleeding-edge MCP support — Cursor leads here, often by 6–9 months on new MCP transport features and install polish. Also skip if you’re concerned about Cognition’s roadmap impacting Windsurf’s product direction; if the acquisition redirects engineering toward Devin integration, the IDE could drift in a direction your team doesn’t want.
Source / try it: windsurf.com
Google Antigravity — what makes it different
What it does best
Antigravity is Google’s AI coding IDE, launched in late 2024 / early 2025. It’s free during preview as of 2026, with tight Gemini model integration — Gemini Pro by default, Gemini Flash for fast paths. The pitch is “Cursor for Google Cloud + Gemini ecosystem.” MCP support is less mature than Cursor or Windsurf at the time of writing, but Google has shipped fast in 2025 and the gap is closing each quarter. The free tier covers normal individual use; pricing post-preview is unannounced.
Pick this if you...
- Already work on Google Cloud + Gemini APIs — Antigravity knows GCP shape (IAM, deployment manifests, gcloud commands) without you stuffing extensive context into the prompt.
- Want a free IDE during preview — Antigravity is genuinely free for individual use as of 2026, and the preview status doesn’t expire on a fixed date.
- Are comfortable being a beta tester for a major-vendor product — Google ships fast, but the IDE is younger than Cursor and rough edges surface.
- Care about brand-of-record stability — Google won’t shut down the IDE in a quarter the way a smaller startup might, and that long-term bet matters for multi-year team standardization.
- Need MCP integration for server install — the install flow is documented at /clients/antigravity.
Where it shines: scaffolding a Cloud Run + Vertex AI service
Antigravity’s Gemini integration means it knows GCP shape — IAM, deployment manifests, gcloud commands — without needing extensive context. Test by saying “scaffold a Cloud Run service that calls Vertex AI for embeddings” and watching it produce a working Terraform + service code combo, with the IAM bindings and Vertex AI client SDK calls already wired up. That’s where Antigravity earns its keep — GCP-native generation that other IDEs treat as generic cloud boilerplate.
Skip it if...
Your team isn’t on Google Cloud — half the value proposition disappears, and you’re left with a Gemini-bound IDE that lags Cursor on every other axis. Also skip if preview pricing turns into something you can’t budget for; Google’s preview-to-GA pricing pattern has been “free becomes paid with a free tier underneath,” but the magnitude of the paid tier is unannounced. Don’t commit a multi-year workflow to Antigravity assuming the free tier persists past preview.
Source / try it: antigravity.google
AWS Kiro — what makes it different
What it does best
Kiro is AWS’s AI coding IDE — a spec-first workflow targeting enterprise and compliance buyers, with tight integration into your AWS account and Bedrock model selection. It’s less mature than Cursor on the autocomplete side; it’s more mature than competitors on AWS-native compliance — IAM, audit logging, data residency, and the Well-Architected reviewer integration are first-class. The IDE itself is free for AWS account holders; you’re billed for Bedrock model calls through your normal AWS bill.
Pick this if you...
- Are fully on AWS and want vendor consolidation — one contract, one bill, one identity provider, one audit log surface.
- Need SOC 2 or HIPAA-aligned workflows that don’t send code to a third party — Kiro stays inside your AWS account by design.
- Are comfortable writing specs first and letting the IDE generate from them — this fits architects and senior engineers more than “just-let-me-vibe-code” individual contributors.
- Have budget for Bedrock model costs — the IDE doesn’t charge per seat, but agent runs that invoke Claude Sonnet or Llama through Bedrock add up on the AWS bill.
Where it shines: generating a CDK stack from a written spec
Kiro’s spec-first model fits AWS shop conventions: write the architecture spec, Kiro generates the CDK code, IAM policies, and deployment scripts. Test by writing a 100-line spec for a serverless API and watching Kiro produce a working CDK app with five or more files, IAM policies aligned to least-privilege defaults, and a deployment plan. That spec-first rhythm is how senior AWS engineers already work — Kiro is meeting that workflow where it lives, rather than trying to force a chat-driven coding loop on top.
Skip it if...
Your team isn’t on AWS — Kiro stops being interesting outside the Bedrock surface. Also skip if you need fast Tab-style autocomplete; Kiro’s spec-first model trades autocomplete speed for spec rigor, and individual contributors who want ghost-text-as-they-type will be unhappy. And skip if you need MCP support for non-AWS MCP servers — that surface is limited as of 2026.
Source / try it: kiro.aws
MCP integration maturity
If you’re reading this on mcp.directory, MCP support probably matters to you. Here’s the 2026 state of play across the four IDEs:
Cursor — most mature
Both stdio and remote MCP transports are first-class. Settings UI accepts a JSON block and the server appears in the next prompt without an IDE restart. Every server card on this directory ships a one-click Cursor install. Configuration lives in ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Setup walkthrough at /clients/cursor.
Windsurf — supported, smaller surface
MCP servers install through the Cascade settings; the surface is smaller than Cursor’s and the install UX requires more clicks. Stdio transport is the more reliable path; remote MCP support exists but trails Cursor on polish. Walkthrough at /clients/windsurf.
Antigravity — limited as of 2026
MCP support exists but is younger than Cursor or Windsurf. Google has shipped fast in 2025, so this gap is closing. If MCP is your buying criterion today, Antigravity isn’t the leader; if you’re on a 12-month horizon, watch the gap. Setup notes at /clients/antigravity.
Kiro — limited, AWS-tilted
Kiro’s MCP surface is limited and primarily optimized for AWS-native MCPs (Bedrock, S3, DynamoDB-backed). Generic stdio MCP servers can be installed but the install UX is less polished than Cursor or Windsurf. If you need broad MCP server support, this isn’t the IDE.
The shorthand: Cursor > Windsurf > Antigravity ≈ Kiro on MCP maturity in 2026. If you’re standardizing your team on an IDE because of MCP server access specifically, Cursor is the safe pick and Windsurf the budget-friendly second choice.
Common pitfalls (regardless of which one you pick)
Forcing Antigravity onto an AWS shop
Antigravity’s value comes from its tight Gemini + Google Cloud integration. On an AWS-only team it loses half the differentiation and you’re left with a younger IDE that lags Cursor on every cross-cloud axis. Same in reverse: forcing Kiro onto a GCP shop strips out the Bedrock-native workflows that justify it.
Treating the Antigravity preview tier as permanent
Google’s preview status is open-ended but not permanent. Past Google products have moved from free preview to paid GA on relatively short notice. If your team standardizes on Antigravity assuming free-forever, you may be re-budgeting in a quarter. Treat preview as evaluation, not commitment.
Comparing Cursor to Copilot directly
They’re different categories. Cursor is its own IDE; Copilot is a plugin inside someone else’s editor. The autocomplete-only comparison is Cursor Tab vs Copilot vs Codeium vs Tabnine vs Cody. The full-IDE comparison is the post you’re reading right now. Don’t conflate them.
Ignoring the Cognition acquisition of Windsurf
Cognition (the company behind Devin) acquired Windsurf in December 2025. The product surface has continued under the Windsurf brand, but governance, roadmap, and the relationship to Devin are open questions for 2026. If you’re committing a team to Windsurf for two years, factor in the possibility that the IDE’s product direction bends toward Devin integration.
Buying Kiro for autocomplete
Kiro’s spec-first model deprioritizes autocomplete speed in favor of structural rigor — you’ll be unhappy if you expect Cursor Tab latency and edit-prediction quality. Kiro is the right tool for “write the spec, generate the stack” workflows, not for “start typing a function and let ghost text fill in.”
Underestimating MCP-server gap on Antigravity / Kiro
Both Antigravity and Kiro have limited MCP support relative to Cursor in 2026. If your buying decision is “which IDE has the most MCP servers available,” that’s Cursor — not the big-cloud entrants. Don’t assume major-vendor backing translates to feature parity here.
Community signal
The honest community read on these four IDEs is mostly in long Reddit threads, Twitter posts, and individual blog write-ups. We’re not going to fabricate Hacker News quotes; here’s the pattern that’s consistent across r/cursor, r/ChatGPTCoding, r/google_antigravity, and the AWS developer communities.
Cursor wins on subjective satisfaction among power users. The most-repeated phrase across AI-IDE threads in 2026 is some variant of “I tried X for a week and went back to Cursor.” The Tab model and Composer surface together create a stickier experience than competitors have replicated.
Windsurf wins on free-tier mindshare. The Cognition acquisition created some uncertainty, but the consistent thread sentiment is “free tier still great, Cascade still good, will see what Cognition does.” Budget-conscious devs and indie hackers continue to default to Windsurf as their go-to free option.
Antigravity wins on Google Cloud native-ness and preview-tier generosity. The thread pattern: “If you’re on GCP, Antigravity is surprisingly good. If you’re not, why are you using it?” The free preview also pulls in students and side-project builders who can’t afford Cursor Pro.
Kiro has the smallest public community signal of the four — its audience is AWS-native enterprise teams that don’t post on Reddit. The signal that does surface is “we’re using Kiro because the spec-first model fits our AWS Well-Architected reviewer process.” Less enthusiastic, more “it’s the right tool for our compliance shop.”
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Cursor, Windsurf, Antigravity, and Kiro?
Cursor and Windsurf are independent AI-IDE startups (Cursor is more mature; Windsurf was acquired by Cognition in late 2025). Antigravity is Google's IDE — free during preview, with tight Gemini integration. Kiro is AWS's IDE — spec-first, with tight Bedrock and AWS-account integration. Different audiences: Cursor for general devs at any team size, Windsurf for budget-conscious devs who want a real free tier, Antigravity for Google Cloud teams, Kiro for AWS shops with compliance requirements.
Is Antigravity really free during preview?
Yes — as of 2026 Antigravity is free for individual use during preview. Pricing post-preview hasn't been announced; Google's pattern with similar products has been a free tier plus a paid Pro tier. Use it now as a free option, but don't bet a long-term workflow on the free tier persisting past preview.
Cursor vs Windsurf — which has better MCP support?
Cursor as of 2026 — Cursor's MCP integration is the most mature among IDEs, supporting both stdio and remote MCP servers, with a polished install UX (paste a JSON block into settings and the server appears in the next prompt). Windsurf supports MCP, but the surface is smaller and the install UX is rougher. Both are improving; Cursor leads by 6–9 months on MCP polish.
Does Kiro work with Anthropic models or only Bedrock?
Kiro routes through AWS Bedrock by default, which means: any model available in your AWS region's Bedrock catalogue (Claude Sonnet, Haiku, sometimes Opus, plus Llama, Mistral, Titan). Direct Anthropic API calls aren't a first-class workflow — Kiro is built around the Bedrock surface. If you specifically need Claude Opus for a feature your Bedrock region doesn't host, Kiro is the wrong tool.
Can I use these IDEs without a subscription?
Antigravity is free during preview. Windsurf has a free tier with real Pro features. Cursor has a Hobby tier with usage limits. Kiro is "free" in that the IDE doesn't charge — you pay for Bedrock usage instead. So yes, you can run all four without an upfront subscription, but Cursor's free tier is the most limited of the four.
Cursor vs Copilot — different category?
Yes — clarify. Cursor is its own IDE (a fork of VS Code with AI built in). GitHub Copilot is a plugin that runs inside VS Code or other IDEs. The autocomplete experience is roughly comparable, but Cursor's Composer and Agent modes are full-IDE features that Copilot inside VS Code can't replicate. If you want autocomplete-only, Copilot inside your existing VS Code is fine. If you want agent + multi-file edits + MCP, Cursor.
Which has the best Tab autocomplete model?
Cursor's Tab is widely cited as the best — it's a Cursor-specific model trained for next-edit prediction (not next-token prediction). Windsurf is close but slightly behind on the predict-next-edit pattern. Antigravity uses Gemini-based autocomplete, which is competitive on token-level but doesn't try to predict edits the way Cursor does. Kiro's spec-first model deprioritizes autocomplete speed in favor of structural rigor.
When does Antigravity stop being free?
Unknown as of 2026. Google's preview status doesn't expire on a fixed date in their public communications. Watch the Google AI blog or your IDE's "Pricing" link for changes. Don't commit to Antigravity for a multi-year project assuming the free tier persists; treat it as an evaluation/light-use tool until Google announces a permanent pricing structure.
Sources
Cursor
- cursor.com — product page, Tab + Composer + Agent feature descriptions
- cursor.com/pricing — Hobby ($0), Pro ($20), Business ($40/seat)
Windsurf
- windsurf.com — Cascade feature, post-rebrand product surface
- windsurf.com/pricing — Free tier, Pro ($20), Teams ($40/user)
Google Antigravity
- antigravity.google — product page, preview tier announcement, Gemini integration positioning
AWS Kiro
- kiro.aws — product page, spec-first workflow, Bedrock integration
Internal cross-links
- /blog/cursor-tab-vs-copilot-vs-codeium-vs-tabnine-vs-cody-2026 — autocomplete-plugin comparison (different category)
- /blog/best-language-skills-for-claude-code-2026 — language-skill comparison for Claude Code
- /clients/cursor — Cursor MCP setup
- /clients/windsurf — Windsurf MCP setup
- /clients/antigravity — Antigravity MCP setup