AI coding tools moved faster than almost any software category in 2025, and the dust is finally settling. If you picked a tool a year ago, two things are worth a fresh look: who owns it now, and what it actually costs.
Windsurf got split apart in 72 hours
The wildest story belongs to Windsurf (formerly Codeium). OpenAI reportedly agreed to buy it for $3 billion in early 2025, then the deal collapsed. Within days, Google paid roughly $2.4B to hire Windsurf-s founders and license its technology, and Cognition, the company behind the Devin coding agent, acquired the remaining product, brand, and team for about $250M.
For users, the practical takeaway is reassuring: the Windsurf editor is still actively developed under Cognition, with its Cascade agent, multi-file edits, and broad model support intact. But it is now part of a different company than the one you may have signed up with.
Copilot and Cursor settled into clear tiers
The pricing picture is clearer than it was. GitHub Copilot now offers a genuine free tier (2,000 completions a month) with Pro at $10/month, and in mid-2026 it shifted to usage-based AI credits. Cursor keeps a free Hobby plan with Pro at $20/month, bundling unlimited tab completions and a pool of frontier-model usage.
The gap between them is less about price and more about workflow: Copilot leans into broad IDE and ecosystem integration, while Cursor is a purpose-built AI editor for people who want the agent at the center.
What this means if you are choosing today
- Confirm ownership and roadmap, not just features. A tool acquired mid-cycle can shift direction quickly.
- Treat the free tiers as real evaluation paths. Copilot, Cursor, and others now let you test serious workflows without paying.
- Watch billing models, not just headline prices. Usage-based credits can cost more or less than a flat fee depending on how heavily you lean on premium models.
The category is consolidating, but competition is still fierce, which keeps free tiers generous and pricing honest. Re-check your stack once a year, because in AI coding, a year is a long time.