Smithery vs Windsurf

Detailed side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right tool

Smithery

🔴Developer

MCP infrastructure

Smithery helps teams with discovering and operating MCP integrations; live pricing and feature details require manual verification.

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Starting Price

Custom
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Windsurf

🔴Developer

AI coding assistant

An agentic coding environment for editing, understanding, and generating software.

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Starting Price

Free
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Feature Comparison

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FeatureSmitheryWindsurf
CategoryMCP infrastructureAI coding assistant
Pricing Plans78 tiers48 tiers
Starting PriceFree
Key Features
  • • Searchable registry of thousands of MCP servers with install counts and reviews
  • • One-line install for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, OpenClaw and VS Code
  • • Hosted streamable HTTP runtime for remote MCP servers
  • • Repository-aware code explanation and generation
  • • Agentic multi-file editing inside a developer IDE
  • • Natural-language implementation and refactoring requests

Smithery - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓The registry reduces time spent finding compatible MCP servers and connection instructions.
  • ✓Managed OAuth removes repeated authorization plumbing when agents access user-owned services.
  • ✓A free allowance of 50,000 monthly RPCs makes small proofs of concept practical.
  • ✓Namespaces and a custom tier provide a path from individual experiments to organized production use.

Cons

  • ✗Smithery becomes another availability and latency dependency between the agent and its tools.
  • ✗Registry presence is not a substitute for reviewing server code, ownership, permissions, and update behavior.
  • ✗RPC-based costs can be difficult to predict when one user task fans out into many tool calls and retries.
  • ✗Custom rate limits, an uptime SLA, and Slack support require a sales conversation.

Windsurf - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓Keeps code generation and repository exploration inside the editor
  • ✓Coordinates changes across multiple files instead of returning isolated snippets
  • ✓MCP client support expands the tools an agent can use
  • ✓Strong fit for feature work, refactoring, and unfamiliar repositories

Cons

  • ✗Homepage and pricing page returned HTTP 429, so current prices need manual verification
  • ✗Large generated diffs can increase review burden and hide regressions
  • ✗MCP servers expand the permission and security surface
  • ✗Generated code still requires tests, security review, and human approval

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🔒 Security & Compliance Comparison

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Security FeatureSmitheryWindsurf
SOC2—✅ Yes
GDPR—✅ Yes
HIPAA——
SSO—✅ Yes
Self-Hosted—✅ Yes
On-Prem—✅ Yes
RBAC—✅ Yes
Audit Log—✅ Yes
Open Source—❌ No
API Key Auth—✅ Yes
Encryption at Rest—✅ Yes
Encryption in Transit—✅ Yes
Data Residency—US, EU
Data Retention—configurable
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Review SmitheryReview Windsurf