M
MOpen-weight AI models, chat and coding agent you can run on your own infrastructure
Free, from $14.99/mo
LM Studio vs Windsurf
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
L
Choose LM Studio if…
- you're in its core audience: developers, privacy-conscious professionals
W
Choose Windsurf if…
- you work on macOS, JetBrains
- you're in its core audience: software engineers, engineering teams
Side by side
Feature LM Studio Windsurf
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$20/mo$20/mo
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
Trains AI on your contentNo—
Data retentionPrompts and responses not retained; cloud requests processed transiently (Zero Data Retention)—
Security and complianceGDPR—
Updates, last 90 days7—
Works fully offline—
Optional cloud models—
OpenAI-compatible API—
Apple Silicon acceleration—
Team admin / SSO—
Platforms—macOS, JetBrains
CategoryLocal & Open ModelsCode Assistants
CompanyElement Labs, Inc.Cognition AI, Inc.
Based inUnited States—
Founded——
Part of——
Key features
L LM Studio
- Bionic agent creates and edits documents, slides and PDFs
- Coding, automation and computer control tasks
- In-app download of local LLMs
- Runtime powered by MLX and llama.cpp
- Real-time on-device voice transcription in multiple languages
- Optional US-hosted open frontier models with zero data retention
- LM Link connects up to 5 devices on Free
- JavaScript and Python SDKs plus the lms CLI
W Windsurf
- Agent command center with Spaces and Kanban view
- Manage third-party agents via Agent Client Protocol
- Handoff sessions between local machine and Devin Cloud
- Subagent coordination with separate PRs per task
- Fast Context codebase search
- Built-in Devin Review for diffs
- Fusion pairing of lead and sidekick models
- Supercomplete tab predictions
Plans and prices
From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.
LM Studio
Free$0
Bionic+$20 USD/month
Pro$100 USD/month
Windsurf
Free$0
Pro$20 per month
Max$200 per month
Teams$80/mo + $40/mo per full seat
EnterpriseCustom
Strengths and limitations
LM Studio
- Free plan includes the agent, local models and offline transcription
- Voice data is processed locally
- Cloud services are stated to use Zero Data Retention
- SDKs for JavaScript and Python plus a CLI
- Hosted frontier models require a paid plan starting at $20/month
- Free plan has only limited web search
- Team subscription plans are not yet available
Windsurf
- Free plan includes unlimited Tab completions and inline edits
- Supports models from OpenAI, Claude, Gemini and open-source models
- Integrations with Slack, Linear, Jira, Sentry, Figma and more
- Existing Windsurf settings and plans carry over automatically
- Desktop download listed only for macOS on the page
- Free plan has a light quota and limited model access
- Usage beyond quota is charged at API pricing
- Concurrent sessions capped at 10 on Pro and Max
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Built from each vendor's public website; we haven't tested them hands-on. Editorial policy