The Windsurf AI editor has recently become very popular, and competition among AI IDEs is heating up! Windsurf is quite similar to the Cursor AI editor. Previously, when the price was half that of Cursor, many people switched from Cursor to Windsurf.
Two months ago, Codeium promoted the Windsurf AI IDE by offering new users 2 months of Pro for free, but recently it started requiring $10, which has now increased to $15.
If you are an early member user, you can still maintain the $10 price.
Differences Between Windsurf and Cursor
After the latest update, Windsurf has become slightly more user-friendly in terms of functionality and interaction compared to Cursor. Some features include:
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🧠Cascading memory and .windsurfrules -
💻 Automatic terminal commands -
🪟 Support for WSL, devcontainer, and Pyright
Windsurf is indeed as user-friendly as Cursor. After the Pro experience expires, if you are unsure how to subscribe and pay for Windsurf Pro, below is a guide on how to subscribe to Windsurf Pro / Codeium Pro services.
Since most overseas services do not support domestic cards for payment, unless you have an international Visa or MasterCard, payments will be rejected during subscription. Visa and MasterCard applications can be quite complicated and may not always be successful. However, you can use a virtual card for subscription, which is a method I frequently use.
Windsurf Editor Official Website:
<span>https://codeium.com/windsurf</span>Wildcard Virtual Card Official Website:
<span>https://bewildcard.com/i/UPGPT</span>
Subscription Steps
(1) Open the Windsurf official website, click on Pricing. Click the Select plan button for the corresponding version to enter the subscription page. (Users experiencing Pro cannot subscribe before it expires.)
(2) After entering the subscription page, keep the page open. Apply for a virtual card to bind it.
(3) Visit the WildCard official website and click the “Login/Register” button at the top right.
WildCard Official Website:：
<span>https://bewildcard.com/i/UPGPT</span>
(4) Use your +86 phone number to complete account registration.
(5) Go to the backend, click on “My Cards” in the left navigation bar. Select the card’s validity period and scan to pay the annual fee for the virtual credit card.
(6) Click on “My Cards” again to view all information about the virtual credit card.
(7) Click the “Recharge” button and follow the prompts to recharge using Alipay.
The subscription fee for Windsurf Pro is $15 per month, so your recharge amount should be no less than $15.
(8) Copy the current virtual card information and bind it to the previous Windsurf binding card page. You can refer to the binding format below from Claude; they are all the same. 
At this point, you can complete the subscription process for Windsurf Pro, which takes about 10 minutes. Similarly, you can use this method to subscribe to other services, such as Cursor or GitHub Copilot and others.
Special Note: This tutorial has been tested to ensure it is real and effective. I have been using this method to subscribe to “ChatGPT Plus” for over a year without encountering any issues. Additionally, the entire activation process can be completed in just ten minutes!
