Beyond Free Unlimited Claude 3.5: Can ByteDance’s Trae Disrupt Cursor and WindSurf? A Hands-on Project Experience

AI programming tools have entered a decisive year, with various players gearing up for competition. A few days ago, WindSurf released its first major upgrade for 2025, drawing widespread industry attention and firing the first shot in this battle for dominance.

However, unexpectedly, a dark horse has emerged. On the 20th, ByteDance launched Trae, an AI programming tool positioned to compete with Cursor and WindSurf, quickly becoming the industry’s focus.

I immediately tested Trae and found its all-Chinese interface and product design logic similar to Cursor and WindSurf, allowing users to quickly get started with virtually no learning curve. Unlike Cursor and WindSurf’s obvious VS Code style, Trae offers refreshingly unique interface interactions.

Like Cursor, Trae offers both Chat and Builder modes, with Builder being equivalent to Cursor’s Composer. While the overall user experience is similar, Trae shows more attention to detail. For instance, I’ve always emphasized that timely commits are crucial for AI development tools, but it’s…