--- title: "surf vs cua" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/e2b-dev-surf-vs-trycua-cua" tools: ["e2b-dev-surf", "trycua-cua"] --- # surf vs cua *GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026* ## 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. [surf](https://surf.e2b.dev) reports 870 GitHub stars, 143 forks, and 8 open issues, last pushed Sep 9, 2026. [cua](https://cua.ai) has 22k stars, 1.5k forks, and 662 open issues, last pushed Aug 19, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [surf's repository](https://github.com/e2b-dev/surf) and [cua's repository](https://github.com/trycua/cua). | | [surf](/tools/e2b-dev-surf.md) | [cua](/tools/trycua-cua.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | AI agent powered by OpenAI for interacting with E2B's virtual desktop environment via natural language | Open-source infrastructure for Computer-Use Agents | | Stars | 870 | 21,516 | | Forks | 143 | 1,479 | | Open issues | 8 | 662 | | Language | TypeScript | HTML | | Adopt for | Surf is an AI agent that automates interaction within E2B's virtual desktop environment via natural language commands. | Critical facts about CUA for tool selection | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0, providing free use, modification, and distribution with conditions that ensure legal use and attribution. | MIT | | Categories | AI Agents, Developer Tools | AI Agents, Developer Tools | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [surf](/tools/e2b-dev-surf.md) | [cua](/tools/trycua-cua.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Active (82%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 10d | 0d | | Open issues (now) | 8 | 662 | | Stars delta | +27 (30d) | +1.4k (30d) | | Open issues delta | 0 (30d) | +122 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/e2b-dev-surf/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/trycua-cua/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: surf - **Pricing:** freemium - Free for usage under the Apache license; premium features or services may incur additional fees depending on OpenAI's and E2B’s policies. - **Adopt for:** Surf is an AI agent that automates interaction within E2B's virtual desktop environment via natural language commands. - **License detail:** Apache-2.0, providing free use, modification, and distribution with conditions that ensure legal use and attribution. ## Decision facts: cua - **Pricing:** freemium - 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。 - **Adopt for:** Critical facts about CUA for tool selection ## Choose when ### 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. ### 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 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 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. ## 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](/tools/e2b-dev-surf/alternatives) and [cua alternatives](/tools/trycua-cua/alternatives) ([surf markdown twin](/tools/e2b-dev-surf/alternatives.md), [cua markdown twin](/tools/trycua-cua/alternatives.md)), 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](/compare/e2b-dev-surf-vs-trycua-cua.md) 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](/tools/e2b-dev-surf/trust); [cua trust report](/tools/trycua-cua/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=e2b-dev-surf`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=e2b-dev-surf) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_