Windsurf’s fast rise in the AI coding industry has hit turbulence. The company confirmed that Anthropic had restricted its first-party access to Claude 3.5 and 3.7 Sonnet models. The timing could not have been worse, as developers increasingly rely on high-performance AI tools to accelerate their workflows.

“We wanted to pay them for the full capacity. We are disappointed by this decision and the short notice,”

said Varun Mohan, Windsurf’s CEO, in a direct statement on X.

Struggle to Meet High Demand

The change came with less than a week’s warning and left the team scrambling for computing alternatives. Windsurf quickly pivoted to third-party providers, but the available capacity still falls short of meeting current demand. As a result, access to Claude 3.x models has been pulled from all free and trial-tier users.

The company introduced a temporary solution to ease the disruption. Users can still use Claude 3.x and Claude 4 models through a bring-your-own-key (BYOK) method using personal API credentials. Many developers find the process more costly and time-consuming than integrated support.

Windsurf has also launched a Gemini 2.5 Pro promotion at a reduced 0.75x rate to help users transition during the capacity crunch. Additional support remains intact for GPT-4.1 and other high-performing AI systems available on the platform. The team is actively working to restore its full capacity through alternative computing arrangements.

“Users may have some short-term capacity issues with the Claude 3.x models as the new capacity comes online, but we should be fine,”

The company said in its official blog update.

Missed Claude 4 Launch Adds Pressure

This event follows another frustrating event in Windsurf’s timeline. During the recent rollout of Claude 4, the startup was left out entirely while competitors like Cursor, Devin, and GitHub Copilot gained direct access. That exclusion forced Windsurf into a more expensive workaround, which impacted its value proposition to developers.

Windsurf has grown quickly since OpenAI acquired it in April, hitting $100 million in annual recurring revenue earlier this year. But without proper access to Claude’s best models, its progress could stall. It’s several loyal users, including some who rely on Claude for specialized programming tasks like Swift, have already started switching platforms.

The company’s leadership is vocal about its commitment to developers.

“We have always prided ourselves on offering all models. Our priority was to keep Anthropic’s models as recommended options,”

the team noted in a company blog.

Anthropic issued its own response, citing the need to focus resources on longer-term partnerships.

“We’re prioritizing capacity for sustainable partnerships that allow us to effectively serve the broader developer community,”

said Steve Mnich, an Anthropic spokesperson, via email to TechCrunch.

Although Windsurf has temporarily lost a key capability, its broader value still holds weight. Features like Previews, Reviews, Deploys, and Workflow continue to attract professional teams. The platform’s integrations with JetBrains and secure deployment options built for enterprise needs have become part of its appeal.

“The magic is in the product,”

Windsurf said, reiterating that their strength lies in thoughtful design and smart engineering, not just in which models they can access.

Many in the AI coding industry now view access to Claude, GPT, and Gemini models as the deciding factor in tool selection. Developers want flexibility, speed, and consistent performance. Windsurf’s latest challenge underscores just how fragile those expectations can be when access depends on outside partners.

Windsurf Looks Ahead

Despite setbacks, Windsurf continues building. The company is actively expanding compute support to close the gap left by Anthropic’s decision. The BYOK method remains live, and new infrastructure is already being brought online.

A Defining Moment Ahead

The AI coding race is far from settled. New model releases from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google keep pressure high across the board. Startups that support a range of AI systems and offer exciting product features are more likely to survive disruption.

Windsurf’s next few months could define its future in this high-stakes market. If the company can secure dependable computing and keep delivering what developers need, it may come out stronger. If not, more users may start looking elsewhere.

But for now, the team’s focus is clear: build, adapt, and keep serving developers who rely on quality and speed above all.