Softwr

Software Development · head to head

Baseten vs Windsurf

Baseten logo

Baseten

Software Development

Inference is everything

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Windsurf logo

Windsurf

Software Development

The agentic IDE

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Baseten pro and Enterprise pricing not published; requires contacting sales; Windsurf recently rebranded to Devin Desktop, creating product identity confusion
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Baseten and Windsurf actually diverge.

Attributes where Baseten and Windsurf differ
AttributeBasetenWindsurf
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
PlatformsWebmacOS, Linux, Windows
FoundedUnknown2021

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Software Development).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Baseten

Nothing recorded that Windsurf does not also cover.

Only in Windsurf

  • Cascade AI agent
  • Agentic programming
  • Context-aware assistance
  • Automated command execution
  • Multi-file understanding
  • Intelligent code generation
  • Real-time debugging
  • Integrated terminal

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Baseten

  • Custom model deploymentnot Windsurf
  • Fine-tuned LLM hostingnot Windsurf
  • Inference API scalingnot Windsurf

Windsurf

  • Agentic developmentnot Baseten
  • AI-assisted codingnot Baseten
  • Complex project managementnot Baseten
  • Automated coding tasksnot Baseten
  • Learning new codebasesnot Baseten

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Baseten

  • Pro and Enterprise pricing not published; requires contacting sales
  • Pricing varies significantly by compute type and model

Windsurf

  • Recently rebranded to Devin Desktop, creating product identity confusion
  • Cascade agent reached end-of-life on July 1, 2026, requiring migration to Devin Local
  • Free tier quota runs out quickly for active developers, within a couple days of coding
  • Pricing increased significantly in March 2026 overhaul, moving from credit-based to daily/weekly quotas
  • OpenAI acquisition raises concerns about long-term product direction diverging from Codeium's vision

Pricing, plan by plan

Baseten

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Pay-as-you-go deployments
    • Dedicated model APIs
    • SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance
  • Pro$null/month
    • Priority GPU access
    • Unlimited autoscaling
    • Volume discounts available
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Self-hosted options
    • Custom SLAs
    • Data residency control

Windsurf

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Light daily and weekly quotas
    • Unlimited tab autocomplete
    • Access to Cascade AI agent
  • Pro$20/month
    • Standard quotas
    • Windsurf proprietary SWE model
    • Cloud sessions for background work
  • Max$200/month
    • Heavy daily quotas
    • Long agent sessions
    • Frontier third-party models
  • Teams$40/month-per-user
    • All Pro features
    • Centralized billing
    • Usage analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Baseten if

  • You want to start without paying.
Baseten review

Choose Windsurf if

  • You need cascade ai agent.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Linux, Windows.
  • You also want agentic programming.
Windsurf review

Questions people ask

Is Baseten or Windsurf better?
Neither clearly leads. Baseten starts at Free and Windsurf at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Baseten or Windsurf?
Baseten starts at Free and Windsurf at Free.
Does Baseten or Windsurf run on more platforms?
Baseten runs on Web. Windsurf runs on macOS, Linux, Windows.
Can I use Baseten for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Baseten best used for?
Baseten is most often used for custom model deployment, fine-tuned llm hosting, inference api scaling. Of those, custom model deployment and fine-tuned llm hosting are not what Windsurf is typically brought in for.
What can Baseten do that Windsurf cannot?
Windsurf covers Cascade AI agent, Agentic programming, Context-aware assistance, Automated command execution.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Baseten: Does Baseten have a free tier?

Yes, Baseten's Basic plan is free with a pay-as-you-go model for dedicated deployments and model APIs.

Source
Windsurf: Does Windsurf support MCP (Model Context Protocol) integrations?

Yes. Windsurf supports MCP with integrations for 21 third-party tools for extending functionality and connecting to external systems.

Source
Baseten: How are GPU instances priced on Baseten?

GPU instances are priced per minute: T4 at $0.01052/min, H100 at $0.10833/min, and B200 at $0.16633/min. CPU instances range from $0.00058 to $0.01382 per minute.

Source
Windsurf: What is Windsurf's current status as of 2026?

Windsurf rebranded to Devin Desktop in June 2026 and is backed by OpenAI after its 2025 acquisition. Cascade reached end-of-life on July 1, 2026, with Devin Local as the Rust-rewritten successor.

Source
Baseten: What are Model API costs on Baseten?

Model API pricing varies by model: DeepSeek V4 Flash costs $0.13 per million input tokens and $0.028 per million output tokens; GLM-5.3-Flash costs $0.15 and $0.03 respectively.

Source
Baseten: Does Baseten charge for idle compute time?

No, Baseten does not charge for idle time; billing only covers active compute usage on deployments.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Baseten

More on Windsurf

Keep looking

Other head to heads