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NetBeans vs Windsurf comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

NetBeans
Ranking in IDE
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windsurf
Ranking in IDE
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
AI Code Assistants (1st), AI Software Development (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the IDE category, the mindshare of NetBeans is 5.0%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windsurf is 5.6%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IDE Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Windsurf5.6%
NetBeans5.0%
Other89.4%
IDE
 

Featured Reviews

DB
Java Developer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Some of the valuable features are Java development, RCP ​support and support for various other languages.
* Java development support. (The Java editor is one of the best Java IMHO editors. Java projects support Ant and Maven.) * RCP support * GUI editor for Java windows * RCP support: An easy way to create your own app using NetBeans base. There is a lot of documentation for RCP creation. * Plugins can be easy created. Also there is support for other languages as C/C++, HTLM5, Javascript, Groovy, PHP... There is a lot of plugins that can be easily installed.
DHARMA-TEJA - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Enginner at Sera AI
Feature workflows have become faster and context-aware development is now system-focused
Windsurf has become less of a tool and more of a core part of how I build. I do not think in terms of writing code line by line anymore; I think in terms of features, flows, and systems, and Windsurf helped me translate that into actual implementation across the codebase. It fits especially well when I am doing rapid prototyping, exploring new ideas or architectures, or iterating on existing features quickly. At the same time, one thing I have noticed in my workflow is around model switching. When I switch between models, the GPT generating agent models sometimes the deeper context regarding decision reasoning or intermediate steps does not fully carry over, so I end up re-establishing context manually every time. It is so much painfully manual; that is not a blocker, but since I work on fairly complex multi-step systems, having strong cross-model memory consistency would make it even more powerful. One thing I would really appreciate is stronger cross-model memory and context continuity. Right now, when I switch between models, the surface-level context is there, but the deeper reasoning regarding why certain decisions were made or how a flow evolved does not always carry over fully. Since I work on complex and multi-step agents, I end up re-establishing the context manually. If Windsurf could maintain a kind of shared memory layer across models where intent, decisions, and intermediate steps persist, it would make the whole experience much more seamless. Improving the memory continuity and control would take it from powerful to extremely reliable at scale. Overall, Windsurf is already a strong tool, but there are a few areas where improvements would make a big difference, especially for advanced workflows. The first is cross-model memory and context continuity. The second is better control over agent execution. Right now, when switching between models—for instance, if I am using a tier of models and then I reach a limit, and then I need to switch to a lesser limit model—the high-level context is there, but deeper reasoning is lost. A shared memory layer across models would make the experience much more seamless. Furthermore, while Cascade is powerful, for larger changes, it would help to have more visibility or control, such as previewing the execution plan and guiding steps before it runs. The UI and documentation provided are pretty good, though I think there is room for true visibility and feedback during agent execution. While the amount of time put into the design and documentation is great, figuring out things with the documentation can often be done without any third-party help. Some advanced use cases are not fully explored in the documentation, but the best practices for using agents effectively are very clear, such as how to structure prompts for multi-file changes and how to guide Cascade for better outputs. Real-world advanced examples are already implemented in there; that could be very helpful for us. The main advice I would give to others looking into using Windsurf is to not use it as a traditional code assistant. Windsurf really shines when you treat it as a feature-level or system-level tool, not just something for autocomplete or small snippets. So instead of thinking "write this function," think more toward "build this flow." Learn how to guide it properly. That is the main thing I would advise: learn how to guide it properly, how to prompt it properly, and start with real use cases, not toy examples.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Server Support"
"C++ 11 support (for a long time)"
"Overall, for our company, it has been a good addition, as development times have been shortened using NetBeans."
"I recommend NetBeans because it is easy to use, open source, free of charge, and has really strong community."
"Use it and you will not regret your decision."
"When you have to develop in Java, this IDE is ideal because it has many plugins that make your life easier... For example, when working with Hibernate or with JPA, creating entities is very easy through a graphical interface."
"One of the most important features is that Apache Maven supports it."
"It comes out of package fully-loaded with a lot of great features for web development."
"Windsurf has significantly improved our software development, making it much faster and without errors."
"Windsurf has positively impacted my organization in that writing code is very fast and easy."
"Windsurf has saved a lot of time, and productivity has gone up at least 200%."
"Windsurf is a good tool that everyone can use, as it has many features that reduce the time required for coding."
"Understanding the architecture usually takes considerable time, but this feature allows me to visualize the current architecture of a very large codebase visually, relate the architecture and the code side by side, and understand the whole picture, which is a huge boost for developers."
"As we're experimenting with different AI IDEs, Windsurf has positively impacted my organization by providing options."
"Windsurf's agentic AI is much more capable compared to other solutions; it understands much more context of the code better than other AI agents or solutions."
"Windsurf offers many AI options, feels intelligent, is stable, and appears to be growing as a company in a positive direction."
 

Cons

"Debugging: Watches, Evaluate Expression, and data inspection are limited."
"There are always rooms for improvement for any product. The good thing with NetBeans is that since it is Open Source, you can just go ahead and contribute whatever you want to change yourself."
"The background scanning of projects should be optimized after starting NetBeans."
"The debugging mechanize could be improved compared to IntelliJ, for example."
"It is a very heavy load on the computer, especially when you compare with Sublime Text Limited plugins and themes."
"There are always rooms for improvement for any product."
"Background scanning of sources on demand, disallowed by Options (processor usage, build cannot be deleted by the old version build)."
"One of main areas that the tool can improve is performance."
"When I started using Windsurf, I had a worse experience compared to building using code, as I am very fast at building code and it gave me tons of errors that I needed to fix."
"Windsurf can be improved by using better models, especially state-of-the-art ones."
"Most of the tools are improving. Windsurf has capabilities to do a lot of things, but it is not a ten out of ten because it is not completely autonomous and it still needs guidance."
"I feel that Windsurf can be improved, as sometimes it keeps giving the same answer again and again, which makes me feel stuck at those points in time, because it is giving the same answer in a loop."
"Windsurf can be improved by integrating newer features and the latest features that tools like Claude Code provide, since I think the core team has been absorbed into Google and many people have been switching over to other IDEs."
"Windsurf's stability is a good question. I do not know if it is due to my computer configuration or Windsurf itself, but Windsurf CASCADE agent pane on the right side does not open most of the time."
"Windsurf has certain features that do not work properly. The inline completion feature is not very accurate as it does not account for project context."
"In terms of improvement, I believe Windsurf could enhance features for generating PPTs and documentation to be clearer and more understandable, including visuals."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"NetBeans is free and open source."
"It is an open source and free tool, with no changes, and the licensing allows me even to change source code, if I need."
"I am sad that CLion is not free. Currently, it has no support for Linux makefiles, only cmake, and this is a big mess."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
16%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Insurance Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Windsurf?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that we primarily used a testing license for the whole enterprise. I did not participate in working with pricing and setup costs; it was han...
What needs improvement with Windsurf?
Regarding improvements for Windsurf, I think it would be good if we had an integration with the cloud, a sort of cloud that way we can have autonomous agents that can handle tasks without human int...
What is your primary use case for Windsurf?
On a day-to-day basis, I use Windsurf's agentic mode, the cascade, to develop features in different projects that I work on. Most of my feature development starts with working with Windsurf's casca...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Weyco Group Inc.
Dell, Anduril, MongoDB, Zillow, Atlassian
Find out what your peers are saying about NetBeans vs. Windsurf and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,574 professionals have used our research since 2012.