head to head · open source
Neovim vs windsurf.vim
Neovim has 102,654 GitHub stars, 7,140 forks, 1,900 open issues and last shipped today. windsurf.vim has 5,141 stars, 195 forks, 135 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. Neovim leads on adoption by 1,897% (102,654 vs 5,141 stars). Neovim is written in Vim Script under a custom or non-standard licence; windsurf.vim is written in Vim Script under MIT. Neovim has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, windsurf.vim 4%. Neovim was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (neovim), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Neovim | windsurf.vim | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 103K | ★ 5.1K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Vim Script | Vim Script |
| Last push | 2026-09-29 | 2026-03-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.1K | ⑂ 195 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Neovim if
- You weight community size — 103K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Vim Script
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick windsurf.vim if
- You want the windsurf.vim feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Vim Script
- You evaluated both and windsurf.vim fits your workflow better
About Neovim
Neovim is a Vim fork text editor focused on extensibility and usability, built as a modern refactoring of Vim’s codebase. It lives in the developer tools ecosystem, specifically as a terminal based code editor that maintains compatibility with Vim’s core editing model while adding new capabilities.
read the full Neovim overview →
About windsurf.vim
windsurf.vim is the free, MIT licensed Vim Script plugin that brings Windsurf's AI code completion into Vim and Neovim, and it is aimed at developers who want Copilot style suggestions inside their terminal editor rather than in a separate IDE.
read the full windsurf.vim overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Neovim or windsurf.vim more popular?
Neovim has 102,654 GitHub stars and windsurf.vim has 5,141. Neovim has the larger community by that measure.
Are Neovim and windsurf.vim free?
Both are open source. Neovim has no licence declared in this registry, and windsurf.vim is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Neovim and windsurf.vim?
Neovim is written in Vim Script and windsurf.vim in Vim Script. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Neovim or windsurf.vim?
Choose Neovim if you want the larger community (102,654 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose windsurf.vim if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.