Autonomous AI software engineer that ships PRs end-to-end.
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OpenHands vs Windsurfwhich AI code agent should you pick in 2026?
Open-source autonomous coding agent that plans, codes, and ships across full repos.
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OpenHands vs Windsurf — specs
| Spec | OpenHands | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Agent Rank | 77 / 100 (A) | 80 / 100 (A) |
| Autonomy | Autonomous | Semi-autonomous |
| Pricing | Free · OSS | Freemium · from $15 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Capabilities | Code, Tool use, Browser, Multi-agent | Code, Tool use, Memory, Browser |
| Integrations | 3 apps | 2 apps |
| Verified | — | Verified |
| Released | Jun 2025 | Apr 2025 |
Agent Rank breakdown
OpenHands
Agent Rank
77/ 100
- Autonomy
- 9
- Capabilities
- 8
- Integrations
- 6
- Pricing
- 10
- Polish
- 7
- Verifiability
- 6
Auto-computed from autonomy, capabilities, integrations, pricing, maturity and editorial verification. Updated every deploy. How is this computed?
Windsurf
Agent Rank
80/ 100
- Autonomy
- 8
- Capabilities
- 8
- Integrations
- 4
- Pricing
- 8
- Polish
- 10
- Verifiability
- 10
Auto-computed from autonomy, capabilities, integrations, pricing, maturity and editorial verification. Updated every deploy. How is this computed?
Pros & cons
OpenHands
Pros
- +73K+ GitHub stars — the most popular OSS coding agent (formerly OpenDevin)
- +Self-hostable with full data control — runs locally in Docker
- +Active community + plugin ecosystem; $18.8M Series A backs ongoing development
Cons
- −Setup more involved than commercial alternatives like Cursor
- −Hosted Cloud tier still maturing relative to Devin / Factory
- −BYO model API — costs separate from the platform itself
Windsurf
Pros
- +Cascade agent flows are the strongest "watch it work" UI in any IDE-native agent
- +Cheapest Pro tier in the category at $15/month
- +Codeium has a deep model team — completion quality consistently leads
Cons
- −Smaller ecosystem of extensions than Cursor
- −Pro Ultimate ($60) is opaque on which models are actually premium
- −Memory feature less mature than Cursor + Claude Code memories
Pricing
OpenHands
Self-hosted
Free
Anyone
- +Full OSS code (MIT)
- +Docker sandbox
- +BYO model API
Recommended
Cloud Pro
$20/mo
Solo devs
- +Hosted sandbox
- +GitHub integration
- +Claude / GPT included
Cloud Team
$50/seat/mo
Teams
- +Shared workspaces
- +Audit logs
- +Priority compute
Windsurf
Free
Free
Trial
- +Limited Cascade flow runs
- +Standard models
- +Editor + chat
Recommended
Pro
$15/mo
Working engineers
- +Unlimited Cascade flows
- +All Pro models
- +Background agents
- +Memories
Pro Ultimate
$60/mo
Power users
- +Highest model priority
- +Premium models included
- +Higher concurrency
Teams
$35/seat/mo
Teams
- +SSO + admin
- +Usage analytics
- +Shared memories
Which one should you pick?
OpenHands
Pick OpenHands if cost is the main constraint or if you want the highest autonomy and the verification loop is in place.
Try OpenHands →Windsurf
Pick Windsurf if you want a vendor we've verified for accessibility and pricing accuracy.
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Frequently asked
Should I pick OpenHands or Windsurf in 2026?+
Pick OpenHands if cost is the main constraint or if you want the highest autonomy and the verification loop is in place. Pick Windsurf if you want a vendor we've verified for accessibility and pricing accuracy. Most working teams running both can use OpenHands for primary work and Windsurf for the workflows where its specific strengths matter.
What's the price difference between OpenHands and Windsurf?+
OpenHands starts at Free · OSS; Windsurf starts at Freemium · from $15. OpenHands is the cheaper entry option. For team deployments the TCO can differ — use the AI Agent Rank TCO calculator for your specific volume.
Which is more autonomous, OpenHands or Windsurf?+
OpenHands is the more autonomous of the two (Autonomous vs Semi-autonomous). Higher autonomy ships throughput faster but requires verification loops in place — see our autonomous-vs-copilot framing for when each tier wins.
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Build and ship full applications from a single prompt — runs in the Replit cloud.
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See more alternatives: alternatives to OpenHands · alternatives to Windsurf
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