Comparison
surf vs cua
Verdict
Pick surf if surf is an AI agent that automates interaction within E2B's virtual desktop environment via natural language commands; pick cua if critical facts about CUA for tool selection.
Markdown twin · surf alternatives · cua alternatives
GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026
7views this month
Trust & integrity
| Signal | surf | cua |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active (10d since push) As of Sep 20, 2026 · github_public_v1 | Very active (0d since push) As of Aug 19, 2026 · github_public_v1 |
| Provenance | Not a fork · Organization account As of Sep 20, 2026 · github_public_v1 | Not a fork · Organization account As of Aug 19, 2026 · github_public_v1 |
| OSV dependency advisories | No lockfile (source not queried) As of Jul 15, 2026 · osv@v1 | No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11 As of Jul 11, 2026 · osv@v1 |
| deps.dev advisories | Not queried deps.dev@v1 | Not queried deps.dev@v1 |
| OpenSSF Scorecard | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 |
Tagline
- surf
- AI agent powered by OpenAI for interacting with E2B's virtual desktop environment via natural language
- cua
- Open-source infrastructure for Computer-Use Agents
Stars
- surf
- 870
- cua
- 22k
Forks
- surf
- 143
- cua
- 1.5k
Open issues
- surf
- 8
- cua
- 662
Language
- surf
- TypeScript
- cua
- HTML
Adopt for
- surf
- Surf is an AI agent that automates interaction within E2B's virtual desktop environment via natural language commands.
- cua
- Critical facts about CUA for tool selection
Persona
- surf
- -
- cua
- -
Runtime
- surf
- -
- cua
- -
License
- surf
- Apache-2.0, providing free use, modification, and distribution with conditions that ensure legal use and attribution.
- cua
- MIT
Last pushed
- surf
- Sep 9, 2026
- cua
- Aug 19, 2026
Categories
- surf
- AI Agents, Developer Tools
- cua
- AI Agents, Developer Tools
Trust and health
Maintenance
- surf
- Active (82%)
- cua
- Very active (96%)
Days since push
- surf
- 10d
- cua
- 0d
Open issues (now)
- surf
- 8
- cua
- 662
Stars delta
- surf
- +27 (30d)
- cua
- +1.4k (30d)
Open issues delta
- surf
- 0 (30d)
- cua
- +122 (30d)
OSV dependency advisories
- surf
- No lockfile (source not queried)
- cua
- No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11
Full report
- surf
- Trust report
- cua
- Trust report
Choose surf if…
- surf is primarily TypeScript; cua is HTML.
- License: surf is Apache-2.0, cua is MIT.
- Pricing: Free for usage under the Apache license; premium features or services may incur additional fees depending on OpenAI's and E2B’s policies..
- Tags unique to surf: ai, automation, cua, desktop.
- When you need to interact with E2B’s specific virtual desktop environment and require seamless natural language understanding capabilities from OpenAI.
When NOT to use surf
- Avoid using Surf if your projects do not involve E2B’s virtual desktop environment or if you require integration with other specific virtual desktop software unsupported by this tool.
- Do not opt for Surf if you need direct control over the execution of tasks and prefer manual interaction rather than relying on AI to interpret commands.
Choose cua if…
- cua is primarily HTML; surf is TypeScript.
- License: cua is MIT, surf is Apache-2.0.
- Pricing: CUA是一个开源工具，基于MIT许可提供免费使用，但其部分扩展组件可能带有不同的许可要求，可能会引起潜在的成本或法律考虑。.
- Requirements: Requires Docker; 安装CuA需要Docker支持来创建和操作基础镜像。; 安装过程中可能涉及到使用curl命令从特定网站下载组件，但不应自动执行这些脚本中的任何指令。.
- Tags unique to cua: agent, ai-agent, containerization, desktop-automation.
- CUA uniquely supports the creation of AI agents that can control full desktop environments across macOS, Linux, and Windows, making it ideal for developers aiming to integrate AI-driven automation in跨
When NOT to use cua
- ，CUA，
- When certain components with AGPL-3.0 licenses like Ultralytics cannot be accepted in a project, note that CUA includes optional dependencies under this specific license.
Explore
Sources
Every stat on this page traces to a dated GitHub sync, license file, enrichment field, or trust scan.
- GitHub stars (e2b-dev/surf) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- GitHub forks (e2b-dev/surf) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Last push (e2b-dev/surf) · observed Sep 9, 2026
- License file (Apache-2.0) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Jul 17, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 15, 2026
- GitHub stars (trycua/cua) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- GitHub forks (trycua/cua) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Last push (trycua/cua) · observed Aug 19, 2026
- License file (MIT) · observed Sep 20, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 11, 2026
GitHub stars on cards: surf 870 · cua 22k (synced Sep 20, 2026).
Common questions
- What is the difference between surf and cua?
- surf: AI agent powered by OpenAI for interacting with E2B's virtual desktop environment via natural language. cua: Open-source infrastructure for Computer-Use Agents. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories.
- When should I choose surf over cua?
- Choose surf over cua when surf is primarily TypeScript; cua is HTML; License: surf is Apache-2.0, cua is MIT; Pricing: Free for usage under the Apache license; premium features or services may incur additional fees depending on OpenAI's and E2B’s policies.; Tags unique to surf: ai, automation, cua, desktop; When you need to interact with E2B’s specific virtual desktop environment and require seamless natural language understanding capabilities from OpenAI.
- When should I choose cua over surf?
- Choose cua over surf when cua is primarily HTML; surf is TypeScript; License: cua is MIT, surf is Apache-2.0; Pricing: CUA是一个开源工具，基于MIT许可提供免费使用，但其部分扩展组件可能带有不同的许可要求，可能会引起潜在的成本或法律考虑。; Requirements: Requires Docker; 安装CuA需要Docker支持来创建和操作基础镜像。; 安装过程中可能涉及到使用curl命令从特定网站下载组件，但不应自动执行这些脚本中的任何指令。; Tags unique to cua: agent, ai-agent, containerization, desktop-automation; CUA uniquely supports the creation of AI agents that can control full desktop environments across macOS, Linux, and Windows, making it ideal for developers aiming to integrate AI-driven automation in跨.
- When should I avoid surf?
- Avoid using Surf if your projects do not involve E2B’s virtual desktop environment or if you require integration with other specific virtual desktop software unsupported by this tool. Do not opt for Surf if you need direct control over the execution of tasks and prefer manual interaction rather than relying on AI to interpret commands.
- When should I avoid cua?
- ，CUA， When certain components with AGPL-3.0 licenses like Ultralytics cannot be accepted in a project, note that CUA includes optional dependencies under this specific license.
- Is surf or cua more popular on GitHub?
- cua has more GitHub stars (21,516 vs 870). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.
- Are surf and cua open source?
- Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (surf: Apache-2.0, cua: MIT).
- Where can I find alternatives to surf or cua?
- GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at surf alternatives and cua alternatives (surf markdown twin, cua markdown twin), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes.
- Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison?
- Yes. The markdown twin at this comparison mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.
- Which is better maintained, surf or cua?
- surf: Active. cua: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance.
- Where are the full trust reports for surf and cua?
- GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: surf trust report; cua trust report.