Windsurf, a popular AI-assisted coding tool, is facing a significant challenge from Anthropic. The CEO of Windsurf, Varun Mohan, revealed on the social media platform X that Anthropic has drastically reduced their direct access to the Claude3.7Sonnet and Claude3.5Sonnet AI models. This decision was made with little prior notice, forcing Windsurf to seek alternative third-party computing service providers to run some of Anthropic's popular AI models on their platform.
Mohan stated, "We have always clearly communicated to Anthropic that we want to pay for full access. We are disappointed by this decision and the short-term notification." This change means that Windsurf users may encounter short-term availability issues when accessing Claude, as Windsurf currently has limited third-party inference provider capabilities.
Image source note: Image generated by AI, image authorization service provider Midjourney
Not long ago, Anthropic seemed to overlook Windsurf during the release of Claude4, further exacerbating the company's predicament. Windsurf did not gain direct access to Claude4 on the release day and is still dependent on a more expensive and complex alternative solution to allow developers to use Claude4. Meanwhile, other popular AI coding tools like Cursor, Cognition’s Devin, and Microsoft's GitHub Copilot can directly use the Claude4 model.
Currently, the field of AI-assisted coding, also known as "atmosphere programming," is highly competitive. Windsurf has rapidly grown this year and reached an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $100 million in April, attempting to catch up with more popular tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot. However, Anthropic's move to restrict model access could constrain Windsurf's growth.
For Windsurf users, losing direct access to Claude is frustrating. For example, Ronald Mannak, an entrepreneur focused on Apple's programming language Swift, told TechCrunch that Claude4 significantly improved his work efficiency. Although he has been a Windsurf user since the end of 2024, he recently switched to Cursor to more easily use Claude4.
To address the short-term issue, Windsurf allows users to connect their own Anthropic API keys to their Windsurf account. However, developers found that this "bring your own key" method is more expensive and complex than Windsurf directly providing the model. In this fiercely competitive industry, supporting AI models from various developers is particularly important for atmosphere programming startups. A spokesperson for Windsurf, Payal Patel, said that the company has always believed in providing diversity to users, but the current situation has obviously made this goal more difficult to achieve.