Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

DEV.to VS Surf

Compare DEV.to VS Surf and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

DEV.to logo DEV.to

Where software engineers connect, build their resumes, and grow.

Surf logo Surf

A simple web browser based on WebKit2/GTK+
  • DEV.to Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-13
  • Surf Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-25

DEV.to features and specs

  • Community Engagement
    DEV.to offers an active and supportive community of developers where users can share knowledge, seek advice, and collaborate on projects. This fosters a sense of belonging and continuous learning.
  • Ease of Use
    The platform provides a straightforward and user-friendly interface, making it easy for users to publish content, engage with other posts, and navigate through various resources.
  • Content Diversity
    DEV.to features a wide range of topics related to software development, from beginner tutorials to advanced technical articles. This diversity makes it a valuable resource for developers at all skill levels.
  • Open Source and Transparency
    DEV.to is built on open-source software, which promotes transparency and allows users to contribute to the platformโ€™s development. This aligns with the core values of many developers.
  • Cross-Posting Capabilities
    Users can easily cross-post articles from their personal blogs or other platforms, increasing their contentโ€™s reach and visibility without significant additional effort.

Possible disadvantages of DEV.to

  • Content Quality Variation
    Given its open nature, the quality of content on DEV.to can be inconsistent. Users may need to sift through a mix of high-quality and less useful posts to find valuable information.
  • Platform-Specific Features
    Some features and optimizations are tailored specifically for the DEV.to platform, which might not translate well if the content is shared elsewhere.
  • Limited Advanced Customization
    While the platform is user-friendly, it offers limited customization options for articles and personal profiles compared to more robust blogging platforms.
  • Visibility Challenges
    With a large user base, it can be challenging for new users or less popular posts to gain traction and visibility unless they are highly engaging or promoted.
  • Distraction Potential
    The platform's social features, such as discussions and notifications, can sometimes be distracting, potentially impacting productivity for users who are easily sidetracked.

Surf features and specs

  • Minimalism
    Surf is extremely lightweight and focuses on offering a minimalistic web browsing experience, which can result in faster performance and lower resource usage.
  • Customizability
    Users can tailor Surf to their specific needs through patches and configuration. This makes it highly adaptable for those who are comfortable with a bit of coding.
  • Integration with Suckless Tools
    Surf fits seamlessly into the Suckless ecosystem, integrating well with other minimal and efficient tools like the DWM window manager.
  • Privacy
    By default, Surf doesn't include many of the tracking features found in mainstream browsers, potentially offering a more privacy-conscious browsing experience.
  • Compliance with UNIX Philosophy
    Surf adheres to the UNIX philosophy of doing one thing well, focusing solely on web browsing without additional, potentially unwanted, features.

Possible disadvantages of Surf

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Customizing and configuring Surf can be challenging for users who are not familiar with programming or the command line.
  • Limited Features
    Due to its minimalistic design, Surf lacks many modern features like extensions, tabs, and a built-in password manager that are standard in other browsers.
  • Manual Updates
    Users need to manually update the browser, which can be a hassle compared to automatic updates provided by mainstream browsers.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Surf may have trouble rendering some modern web pages correctly, as it lacks some of the compatibility layers found in more feature-complete browsers.
  • Community Support
    Being a niche and minimalist browser, Surf does not have as large a user base or as much community support compared to more popular browsers.

Analysis of DEV.to

Overall verdict

  • Yes, DEV.to is considered a good platform for developers looking to connect with peers, stay updated with industry trends, and share their knowledge.

Why this product is good

  • DEV.to is a popular online community for software developers where they can share articles, tutorials, and insights related to programming and technology. It's known for its supportive environment, user-friendly interface, and the diversity of content, making it a good resource for learning and networking.

Recommended for

  • Aspiring software developers seeking learning resources and mentorship.
  • Experienced developers looking to share knowledge and contribute to the community.
  • Individuals interested in keeping up with the latest trends and discussions in technology.

Analysis of Surf

Overall verdict

  • Surf can be considered 'good' for users who value simplicity, minimal system resource usage, and the ability to customize their browsing experience via external scripts or patches. However, it might not be suitable for those who rely heavily on modern web features and extensions available in mainstream browsers.

Why this product is good

  • Surf is a minimalist web browser created by the Suckless community, known for developing software that adheres to the philosophy of simplicity and clarity. It is designed to be lightweight and efficient, making it suitable for users who prefer minimalism and are comfortable using a browser without a graphical user interface (GUI) for settings or extensions.

Recommended for

  • Users who are familiar with Unix-like operating systems and command-line interfaces.
  • Individuals who prefer lightweight and efficient software.
  • Those willing to customize their browser through external tools and scripts.
  • Minimalists who do not require a plethora of features and extensions.

DEV.to videos

Ben Halpern founder of Dev.To & The Practical Dev

Surf videos

Pro Surfer Reviews Surf Movies, from 'Blue Crush' to 'Point Break' | Vanity Fair

More videos:

  • Review - Noel's "2021 Favorite Finds" Surfboards & Surf Product Must Haves
  • Tutorial - Surf Tip "How to Surf Faster in Small Waves" Part 1

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DEV.to and Surf)
CMS
100 100%
0% 0
Web Browsers
0 0%
100% 100
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Web Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using DEV.to and Surf. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare DEV.to and Surf

DEV.to Reviews

  1. It is a nice mini-blog, it's for free and such but

    As a mini-blog, it is a nice alternative for Medium to publish and share information about programming.

    However, the community and the organization are biased toward social justice (and they are open to it). You can read its Code of Conduct, it is so vague and politically leads (I prefer a term of service because it defines fair rules for everybody). So it alienates developers that we don't care about politics in pro of people that want to talk about any other topic such as sexuality, how women are unprivileged, and such. It even mandates to use inclusive language. Good grief.

    My main complaint is the quality of the community. It is not StackOverflow (so we don't want to ask for an answer here), and most of the top topics are clickbait, such as "how to become a rockstar developer in ... days", "100 tips to become a better programmer" (and it doesn't even talk about programming).

    Technically this "mini blog" site allows us to use markdown, and it is okay. However, the whole experience is really basic. Even the template is ugly.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Medium
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Free
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Social justice|Basic features|Quality of content

Best Forums for Developers to Join in 2025
The 'dev.to' forum is a great place for developers to find answers, share their knowledge, and learn from others. It's a place for people to talk about their projects, ask questions, and get feedback.
Source: www.notchup.com
Top 10 Developer Communities You Should Explore
One of Dev.toโ€™s unique features is its focus on the human side of coding. Developers often share their personal stories, career journeys, and lessons learned, creating a sense of camaraderie within the community. The platform also encourages content creators by providing a clean and user-friendly interface for writing and sharing articles.
Source: www.qodo.ai

Surf Reviews

We have no reviews of Surf yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DEV.to seems to be a lot more popular than Surf. While we know about 662 links to DEV.to, we've tracked only 46 mentions of Surf. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DEV.to mentions (662)

  • Your first Fitz LiveViews component, twice: SSR and WASM from one source
    In part 1 I made the pitch: real-time UI in one language, no JavaScript build. Now let's build something and ship it two ways from the same source. - Source: dev.to / 6 days ago
  • My Comment-Reply Queue Draft One Reply to a Thread and It Went Deaf to Every Follow-Up After That
    Def pending(): try: drafted_text = open(DRAFTS, encoding="utf-8").read() except FileNotFoundError: drafted_text = "" drafted_codes = set(re.findall(r"^## (\S+)", drafted_text, re.M)) out = [] for a in api(f"/articles?username={ME}&per_page=100"): if not a["comments_count"]: continue for c in api(f"/comments?a_id={a['id']}"): if not... - Source: dev.to / 10 days ago
  • Domain Search to Render: How the web works behind the scenes
    To think that all of this happens under the hood when Iโ€™m just trying to access YouTube to listen to my favorite music playlists to go through the day is insane! It all happens so quicklyโ€ฆ to think that all eleven of these steps occur instantly when I was first entering a website like https://dev.to, for instance, is mind-blowing. - Source: dev.to / 11 days ago
  • Enjoy the Bubble While It Lasts: The Secret Behind Your AI Bill
    And keep an exit. This is the argument I made about small models from a different angle: the same task that costs $14,000/month at frontier scale often costs approximately nothing on a 4B model running on your own hardware. Not for everything - for the long tail of focused, repetitive work that makes up most of what we actually automate. Knowing which of your workflows would survive a 10x price increase is cheap... - Source: dev.to / 15 days ago
  • From Full-Stack Developer to Tech Lead: Lessons I Learned the Hard Way
    P.S originally it was only daily.dev. Now it is (dev.to)[https://dev.to] as well! - Source: dev.to / 15 days ago
View more

Surf mentions (46)

  • My server is a phone now
    When I read about the browser 'surf', I first thought of the browser from suckless: https://surf.suckless.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 days ago
  • How to build a circular LCD clock
    Interesting, surf is based off WebKit2. https://surf.suckless.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Ladybird browser spreads its wings
    What about surf? https://surf.suckless.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • A peculiarity of the X Window System: Windows all the way down
    Another awesome aspect of X11: Xembed. Since it's "windows all the way down" you can have apps (rather than the window manager or root window) be the parent of other app windows. Two nifty examples of this: * https://tools.suckless.org/tabbed/ * https://surf.suckless.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • The Ladybird Browser Project
    Don't forget WebKit. It leads to project such as https://surf.suckless.org. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing DEV.to and Surf, you can also consider the following products

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

Coindive - Stay effortlessly updated on your favorite crypto projects.

Medium - Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.

Sidekick Browser - The fastest browser for work ever made

Hashnode - A friendly and inclusive Q&A network for coders

Vivaldi - Vivaldi is a free, fast web browser designed for power-users. You decide how you browse. Download Vivaldi's fully customisable browser now and browse your way.