Cursor vs Windsurf vs Lovable: Which AI Coding Tool Should You Choose?

Developers now have multiple options beyond GitHub Copilot, with new platforms promising deeper integration, smarter AI agents, and even full-stack app generation. Three of the most discussed tools in 2025 are Cursor, Windsurf, and Lovable.

While all three leverage AI to accelerate development, their approaches differ significantly – from acting as AI pair programmers inside your IDE to generating full-stack applications from a single prompt.

We’ll break down what each tool does, how they compare, and which one to choose.

Cursor: AI pair programming inside VS Code

Cursor is essentially VS Code with AI baked in. Rather than juggling plugins or external apps, developers get an IDE experience that integrates AI code suggestions, refactoring, and project-aware chat directly into their coding environment. Think of Cursor as the natural upgrade from GitHub Copilot.

Key features of Cursor:

• Inline code suggestions powered by GPT-4 and Claude.
• AI chat with project context, so the model understands your codebase.
• Refactoring and debugging help without leaving the editor.
• Git integration for smooth version control.
• Custom models and API keys if you want to bring your own LLM.

Best for: Developers who live inside VS Code and want an AI pair programmer that understands their project.

Windsurf: AI agents for your codebase

Windsurf takes a step beyond autocomplete and integrates multi-agent AI directly into the IDE. Instead of simply suggesting code, Windsurf helps dev teams to run AI “agents” that can plan, search, and edit code in a structured way.

Key features of Windsurf:

• AI agents that can analyze, navigate, and refactor entire projects.
• Semantic search across the codebase.
• Offline/local-first design for developers who care about privacy.
• Multi-step logic generation, not just single-line suggestions.
• Experimental collaboration features like shared editor rooms.

Best for: Teams or advanced developers experimenting with AI as co-developers, not just autocomplete tools. Windsurf is appealing to those who want more control and transparency over how AI interacts with their projects.

Lovable: AI-first full-stack app generator

Cursor and Windsurf are close to the IDE, but Lovable takes a completely different approach. It’s a prompt-to-app generator: you describe the app you want, allowing Lovable to build a functional full-stack web application – frontend, backend, database, and deployment included.

Key features of Lovable:

• AI-generated frontend and backend with React-style UI.
• Database setup, authentication, and APIs out of the box.
• One-click deployment for instant hosting.
• GitHub export if you want to customize or self-host.
• Focus on non-technical founders and solo builders who want quick MVPs.

Best for: Startup founders, indie hackers, or non-technical users who want to launch an MVP in hours rather than weeks.

UI Bakery: low-Code + AI for internal tool building

UI Bakery is where AI app generation meets enterprise-grade low-code development. In contrast to Lovable, which focuses on quick MVPs, UI Bakery AI app geerator is best for teams seeking building data-driven internal tools, dashboards, and admin panels that can be deployed securely inside a company.

Cursor vs Windsurf vs Lovable vs UI Bakery: side-by-side comparison

Wrapping up

The “AI coding tools” market is quickly splitting into two directions:

• AI inside the IDE (Cursor, Windsurf) → best for developers.
• AI as the IDE itself (Lovable, UI Bakery) → best for app generation.

The key difference is focus:

• Cursor and Windsurf make developers faster.
• Lovable and UI Bakery build apps directly from prompts, but Lovable is best for MVPs, and UI Bakery for scalable business tools.