Windsurf starts at $20/mo, Codex at $8/mo. Both have a free plan. Every plan from both vendors, the limits each one actually publishes, and what changed recently, with a source on every line.
Pick Codex if you want the lowest monthly bill. Beyond price and free access, the deciding factor is which models and features you need; we track the money, not the model quality.
| Fact | Windsurf | Codex |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free tier | Free tier |
| Cheapest plan | Pro · $20/mo | Go · $8/mo |
| Top plan | Max · $200/mo | Pro ($100/$200/$500) · from $100/mo |
| Plans tracked | 3 | 4 |
| Yearly discount | None shown | None shown |
| Allowance periods | Not stated | 5-hourWeekly |
| Latest change | billing model | None logged |
| Last checked |
| Tool | Plan | Price | Limits as stated & source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windsurf | Pro | $20/mo | 'Increased quotas' incl. frontier models (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, SpaceXAI); free SWE-2 (free in Devin Desktop and CLI through Oct 16, 2026); Devin Cloud access; extra usage at API pricing. Quota size not published. Source: devin.ai · checked 2026-10-17 |
| Windsurf | Max | $200/mo | 'Significantly higher quotas' than Pro. Not quantified. Source: devin.ai · checked 2026-10-17 |
| Windsurf | Teams | $80/mo | Up to 200 users; each full user gets their own quota. Up to 10 concurrent sessions. Source: devin.ai · checked 2026-10-17 |
| Codex | Go | $8/mo | GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app (lightweight tasks). Caps not published. Source: developers.openai.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Codex | Plus | $20/mo | Estimated local messages per 5 hours: GPT-6 Astra 5-45; GPT-6.1 Sol 15-160; GPT-6 Sol 15-150; GPT-6 Luna 350-3,000. Weekly limits may also apply. Shared with ChatGPT Work. Source: developers.openai.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Codex | Pro ($100/$200/$500) | $100/mo | 'Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit'; weekly allowances vary by tier (not published). Ultrafast mode on Pro $500 only. Source: developers.openai.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Codex | API key | API token pricing | Pay per token; no cloud features (GitHub code review, Slack). Source: developers.openai.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Tool | Free? | What you get for $0 & source |
|---|---|---|
| Windsurf | Free tier | Free $0: 'Light quota to code with agents', limited model availability, unlimited inline edits and Tab completions. Quota size not published. Source: devin.ai · checked 2026-10-17 |
| Codex | Free tier | Free $0: GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app, 'subject to rollout'. No image generation on Free. Source: developers.openai.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
Effective March 19, 2026 (announced March 18): Free/Pro/Teams get auto-refreshing daily and weekly quotas instead of credits; Pro $20, Teams $40/seat, new Max $200.
Codex is cheaper to start: ChatGPT Go (Codex) costs $8/mo, against $20/mo for Windsurf Pro. At the top end, Windsurf Max is $200/mo and ChatGPT Pro (Codex) is from $100/mo.
Windsurf: Yes. Free $0: 'Light quota to code with agents', limited model availability, unlimited inline edits and Tab completions. Quota size not published. Codex: Yes. Free $0: GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app, 'subject to rollout'. No image generation on Free.
Windsurf Pro ($20/mo): 'Increased quotas' incl. frontier models (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, SpaceXAI); free SWE-2 (free in Devin Desktop and CLI through Oct 16, 2026); Devin Cloud access; extra usage at API pricing. Quota size not published. ChatGPT Plus (Codex) ($20/mo): Estimated local messages per 5 hours: GPT-6 Astra 5-45; GPT-6.1 Sol 15-160; GPT-6 Sol 15-150; GPT-6 Luna 350-3,000. Weekly limits may also apply. Shared with ChatGPT Work.
19 Mar 2026, Windsurf: Windsurf drops credits for daily/weekly quotas; adds $200 Max plan.