The popular AI-native coding tool, Windsurf, has announced that Anthropic has cut off first-party capacity to its Claude 3 series of models, including Claude 3.5 Sonnet, 3.7 Sonnet, and 3.7 Sonnet Thinking. Until Windsurf can find some capacity to support the demand for these models, it has had to make some short-term changes.
One action Windsurf is taking to ease capacity issues is offering a promo rate for Gemini 2.5 Pro of 0.75x credits instead of the usual 1x. Gemini 2.5 Pro is a strong alternative to Claude models for coding, so it could help ease the capacity burden.
Additionally, Windsurf has totally removed direct access to the affected Claude models for Free tier users and those trialing the Pro plan. However, you can add your own Claude API key to continue using the model in Windsurf. Claude Sonnet 4 is also available via your own key.
Who it affects, and how
As a result of the change, users who rely on the Claude 3 series models within Windsurf may experience slower response times or temporary unavailability. As an alternative, users could use the free SWE-1 models or the heavily discounted promo of GPT-4.1. There are other models available for paying customers, too.
Users on the Free plan or enjoying a trial of Pro are the most affected by this change is it completely removes first-party capacity, forcing them to create a key and add it manually in Windsurf. This is a big barrier to entry, but some people might be willing to do this as Claude is widely seen as one of the best AI models for coding.
The move could be considered a fairly big blow to Windsurf, which was recently in acquisition talks with OpenAI. Given Claude’s reputation as a strong AI for coding, developers could be less likely to use Windsurf now that it doesn’t come with Claude's set and is ready to go on the Free plan.
Why it's happening
The change came with less than a week’s notice for Windsurf to adapt to the change. While the press release doesn’t disclose the reasons for Anthropic's decision, there is a strong likelihood that it has something to do with OpenAI’s potential acquisition of the IDE. Anthropic and OpenAI were the original leaders competing in the AI race, and Anthropic won’t want to give OpenAI any help if it can help it.
The chagrined Windsurf said that it was concerned about Anthropic’s decision and said the move would harm the entire industry, not just Windsurf. It’s unclear what it means by this, as it didn’t elucidate on this thought.
Reactions
As mentioned earlier, if you have been using Claude models and now feel abandoned by Anthropic and Windsurf, following the latter’s recommendation to use Gemini Pro 2.5 could be a sensible idea.
While first-party capacity has been removed, Windsurf is still actively working with other inference providers to restore capacity and full access to the models.
Windsurf, while disappointed with Anthropic's move, said the magic of its IDE doesn’t come from the models themselves. Instead, it’s all about the software’s deep contextual understanding, intentional user experience, and unique features like Previews, Deploys, and Reviews. Despite this setback, it will keep trying to deliver “magic.”
Given everything, users will now need to decide whether Gemini 2.5 Pro meets their needs or if they need to hunt for a Claude 3 series API key to restore Claude functionality in Windsurf. If you use Windsurf, do not overlook its own model, SWE-1, as it’s also very capable and free to use.
This decision by Anthropic highlights the main issue with relying on third parties to provide AI tools that we increasingly rely upon. For businesses like Windsurf, it means they will diversify the models they offer or, as Windsurf has already done, create their own LLMs that they control. For end users, being able to download a language model and run it offline is increasingly becoming easier and ensures users don’t lose access to their favorite models.
Windsurf is not the only AI IDE on the scene, and this move could cause problems for it if other players continue to offer Claude models, at least in the short term, while it searches for more capacity. It will also reduce trust between model creators like Anthropic and the companies that rely on the models.
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