Short answer
Windsurf was renamed Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026, and its Cascade agent is now legacy, replaced by Devin Local. Pick it if you want one command center for local agents, Devin Cloud agents and other vendors' agents such as Codex CLI or Claude Agent, with a free plan that has unlimited Tab completions. Pick Cursor if you want an editor with its own Grok and Composer models, event-driven Automations and a cheaper first paid plan at $8 a month.
Windsurf vs Cursor at a glance
| Windsurf | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI code editor from Cognition, called Devin Desktop since June 2026 | AI code editor, sold with The X Subscription |
| Local agent | Devin Local, shared with the Devin CLI; Cascade is legacy | Cursor's agent, in the editor and the agent CLI |
| Price to start | Free; Pro is $20 a month | Free; Plus is $8 a month, with Cursor's own models only |
| Top individual plan | Max, $200 a month | Ultra, $200 a month |
| Models | Cognition's SWE-2, and Claude, GPT and Gemini models on paid plans | Grok 4.7 and Composer 2.5 from the plan's weekly pool; Claude, GPT, Gemini and others at API list price on Premium and up |
| How use is counted | A quota that refreshes daily and weekly; extra usage at API pricing | A weekly pool for Cursor's models; third-party models per token |
| Completions | Tab, with Tab to Jump and Tab to Import; unlimited on Free | Tab |
| Cloud agents | Devin Cloud on Pro and up, with hand-off between your machine and the cloud | Cloud agents on Premium ($30) and up; Projects; Bugbot reviews pull requests |
| Other vendors' agents | Any ACP agent, such as Codex CLI, Claude Agent, OpenCode or Gemini CLI, billed by its provider | The Claude Code and Codex extensions install as they do in VS Code |
| Hooks | 8 events in Devin's harness, including PermissionRequest; command handlers | 21 events in hooks.json; command or prompt handlers; no permission-request event |
| Extensions | Open VSX; imports VS Code or Cursor configuration | Open VSX; imports VS Code settings, keybindings and extensions |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux |
Pricing
Windsurf
- Free$0Light agent quota; unlimited Tab completions and inline edits.
- Pro$20/moFrontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceXAI; SWE-2; Devin Cloud agents; extra usage at API pricing.
- Max$200/moSignificantly higher quotas.
- Teams$80/mo + $40 per dev seatUp to 100 users; SSO; central billing.
- EnterpriseCustomSCIM, role-based access, dedicated deployment option.
Checked Nov 11, 2026 on devin.ai
Cursor
- Free$0Limited agent and chat requests.
- Plus$8/moGrok models only, from a weekly usage pool shared with Grok.
- Premium$30/mo4x Plus usage; cloud agents and Automations; third-party models at API list price.
- Super$100/mo15x Plus usage; priority at peak times.
- Ultra$200/mo50x Plus usage.
- TeamsFrom $30 per user/moCentral billing, SSO, shared rules, skills and plugins.
Checked Nov 11, 2026 on cursor.com
The two meter differently. Devin Desktop gives each plan a quota that refreshes daily and weekly, and Pro and Max can buy extra usage at API pricing. Cursor gives paid plans a weekly pool for its own models and bills other vendors' models per token from Premium up. At $20 a month, Devin Desktop Pro already includes frontier models; the closest Cursor plan for those is Premium at $30 plus tokens.
Windsurf is now Devin Desktop
On June 2, 2026, Cognition renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop. It arrived as a normal over-the-air update. Settings, extensions and keybindings carried over, and Cognition's FAQ says pricing did not change. windsurf.com now redirects to devin.ai.
The bigger change is the agent. Cascade, the agent Windsurf was known for, is now the legacy agent. The primary local agent is Devin Local, a harness shared with the Devin CLI. It has modes for Code, Smart, Ask and Plan, subagents (in preview), git worktrees and OS-level sandboxing. Cognition's FAQ said Cascade would stay available through July 2026, and the Windsurf plugin for JetBrains is in maintenance mode.
So if you are reading a Windsurf review from before June 2026, most of the feature names in it have changed.
A command center or an editor
Devin Desktop is built around the Agent Command Center: one view for local and cloud agents, with Spaces and a Kanban view, and hand-off of a session between your machine and Devin Cloud. Through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) it also runs other vendors' agents inside the app. The docs name Codex CLI, Claude Agent, OpenCode, Junie and Gemini CLI. You install each agent yourself, and its bill stays with its provider.
Cursor keeps the work in its own agent. You plan in the Agents Window, iterate on UI in Design Mode, and send longer jobs to cloud agents or Projects. Other vendors' models run inside Cursor's agent at API prices. Other vendors' agents come as extensions: the Claude Code and Codex extensions both install in Cursor.
Models and what you pay for
In Devin Desktop, Free has a light agent quota. Pro at $20 a month adds frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceXAI, Devin Cloud agents, and Cognition's own SWE-2 model, which the docs list as free on self-serve plans in the desktop app and CLI through November 30, 2026. Max at $200 raises the quotas.
In Cursor, Plus at $8 a month covers Cursor's own Grok models. Premium at $30 adds cloud agents, Automations and third-party models, which are billed at API list price: $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens for Claude Opus 5.5 or GPT-5.6 Sol.
Tab, hooks and automation
- Tab: both have it. Devin Desktop's Tab includes Tab to Jump and Tab to Import, and it is unlimited on the free plan.
- Hooks: Devin's harness has 8 events (
PreToolUse,PostToolUse,PermissionRequest,UserPromptSubmit,Stop,PostCompaction,SessionStart,SessionEnd) with command handlers. Cursor'shooks.jsonhas 21 events, with command or prompt handlers, and no permission-request event. - Skills, rules, MCP, plugins: both.
- Event-driven agents: Cursor has Automations, which start a cloud agent on a cron schedule or on events from GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Linear, Sentry, PagerDuty or a webhook. We did not find a matching feature in the Devin Desktop docs.
Moving between the two is cheap. Both install extensions from Open VSX, and Devin Desktop imports VS Code or Cursor configuration from the command palette.
Which to pick
Pick Windsurf if
- You want local agents, cloud agents and other vendors' agents in one command center.
- You want Claude, GPT and Gemini quota in a $20 plan.
- You want unlimited Tab completions without paying.
- You already use Devin in the cloud.
Pick Cursor if
- You want the cheapest paid plan: $8 a month.
- You want agents that start on a schedule or on events from GitHub, Slack, Linear or Sentry.
- You want Grok and Composer models with no per-token bill.
- You want hooks on more events: 21 against 8.
Also consider
- BriefkinWe make thisBoth editors are now built to run several agents at once, and the hard part is knowing which one is waiting on you. Briefkin's installer adds a hook to Cursor, Claude Code and Codex, shows their sessions on one board, and pings you on Telegram when a Claude Code or Codex session stops for a permission.See how it works
- VS Code with CopilotThe free editor both of these import from. See Cursor vs VS Code.
- Google AntigravityFree for individuals, with an app for running agents in parallel. See Antigravity vs Cursor.
- Claude CodeAn agent that runs in either editor, or in neither. See Cursor vs Claude Code.
Questions
Is Windsurf the same as Devin Desktop?
Yes. Cognition renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026. It arrived as a normal update, and settings, extensions and keybindings carried over. The download page says only the name and branding changed, and windsurf.com now redirects to devin.ai.
What happened to Cascade?
Cascade, Windsurf's original agent, is now the legacy agent. Devin Local, a harness shared with the Devin CLI, is the primary local agent in Devin Desktop. Cognition's FAQ said Cascade would stay available through July 2026.
Is Windsurf (Devin Desktop) free?
There is a free plan with a light agent quota, unlimited Tab completions and unlimited inline edits. Pro is $20 a month and Max is $200 a month, as of November 2026.
Which is cheaper, Windsurf or Cursor?
Cursor's first paid plan is cheaper: Plus is $8 a month, with Cursor's own Grok models only. Devin Desktop Pro is $20 a month and includes quota for frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. In Cursor those models start at Premium, $30 a month, and are billed per token on top.
Can I move my setup from Cursor to Devin Desktop?
Yes. Devin Desktop can import VS Code or Cursor configuration from the command palette, and both editors install extensions from the Open VSX registry.