Windsurf unveils AI models to accelerate software engineering

AI coding startup Windsurf has launched their in-house range of frontier AI models called software engineer 1 or SWE-1. The models - SWE-1, SWE-1-lite and SWE-1-mini have been trained for the “entire software engineering process” and not just coding. 

“Traditional coding models are optimized for immediate, tactical outcomes. Real software engineering requires reasoning about ambiguous and incomplete states over extended periods,” an announcement stated on X said. 

The models were directed to perform at incomplete states, long running tasks and performance in production, during the software engineering process.

While SWE-1 is the most capable AI model in the family and performs on par with Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4.1 and Gemini 2.5 Pro, it will be available to paid users only. The SWE-1-lite and SWE-1-mini are smaller AI models that will be available to both free and paid users. 

Although the startup hasn’t revealed their pricing model yet, they mentioned that SWE-1 will be cheaper than Claude 3.5 Sonnet. 

Earlier this month, it was reported that OpenAI had closed a deal to acquire Windsurf for $3 billion. 

Windsurf, has emerged as one among other “vibe coding” startups that have gained popularity, alongside the likes of Cursor and Replit.