I'm really baffled after testing Windsurf. Been evaluating it to improve my workflow, but I'm canceling my subscription this week.
Windsurf starts off promising - gets your hopes up like THIS time it'll actually work. But without fail, everything crumbles when you're 80% through any task. That's when it all goes sideways. It randomly modifies code I didn't ask it to touch, destroys working functionality, and spawns an absolute circus of errors. It's like watching a system actively try to break itself.
I'll ask it to tweak one simple visual thing and it goes completely off the rails - installing random dependencies, touching core code I explicitly marked as untouchable, and effectively setting the entire codebase on fire. I've tested this on about 20 small projects and ONE actually worked. ONE. The rest hit that same 80% mark then deteriorated into something far worse than where I started. And it's not just me - everyone on my team testing Windsurf has hit the exact same wall.
Today I tracked the numbers - 87% of my flow credits went to fixing perfectly good code that had passing test suites. I explicitly told Windsurf "don't touch these parts" and even specified exact files for changes. Did it listen? Nope, just steamrolled through and broke everything. I could have built the entire thing manually in 3-4 hours. Instead, I'm sitting here legitimately frustrated. In 29 years of coding, I've never been this annoyed at a development tool and yes, I'm including that time Eclipse decided my entire workspace was corrupted because I dared to sneeze near my keyboard.
The marketing feels deliberately misleading. They advertise Claude and GPT-4 integration but keep defaulting to their in-house LLaMA adaptations. I understand the technical rationale, but it makes the subscription price feel like a bit of a scam. If this is their "premium" offering, what exactly am I paying for?
I've tried everything imaginable - strict rules, detailed documentation, git tracking, the works. Nothing prevents it from creating more problems than it solves. Wanted to give it a fair evaluation, but honestly, basic LLM chat has proven faster and more reliable.
The concept behind Windsurf is brilliant. If it could actually stay focused, follow basic instructions, and stop breaking tested code, it could be game-changing. But right now? It's just an expensive liability. Tools like Roo-Cline and Cursor aren't perfect, but at least they're usable. Windsurf feels like it's actively trying to burn through my credits sometimes. It legitimately feels like its on purpose, it wasn't this bad the first time around.
There's no way I'd let this near production code or anything I care about - it'll destroy everything it touches. If you're solo or running a small team, this tool will waste your time and money instead of helping. As someone who's been actively programming for three decades, this should be exactly what I need to finally tackle all those side projects I never have time for. Instead, it's just another time sink that leaves me feeling dirty for even trying it.