Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) Review: Features, Pricing & Alternatives

What is Devin Desktop?

Devin Desktop is the AI code editor that was called Windsurf until June 2026. It is made by Cognition, the company behind the Devin coding agent. It is a full desktop IDE with syntax highlighting, debugging and fast Tab autocomplete, but its home screen is now an Agent Command Center: a board where you start, watch and review coding agents that run on your machine or in the cloud.

Windsurf grew out of Codeium and launched as an agentic editor in November 2024 with its Cascade agent. In July 2025 Cognition signed an agreement to acquire Windsurf. On 2 June 2026 Cognition renamed the editor Devin Desktop through an automatic update, keeping existing plans, settings and extensions. Cascade was replaced by Devin Local, a Rust rewrite that Cognition says is up to 30% more token-efficient; legacy Cascade stayed available until 1 July 2026.

What sets Devin Desktop apart is that it treats the editor as a place to coordinate agents, not only to type code. Through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) it can run third-party agents such as Codex, Claude Agent and OpenCode next to Devin Local, and it can hand bigger tasks to Devin Cloud. It shares one account and one set of plans with the wider Devin platform.

Key features of Devin Desktop

• Agent Command CenterA Kanban-style board for starting, tracking and reviewing local and cloud agent sessions from one place.
• Devin LocalThe successor to Cascade, rewritten in Rust and shared with Devin CLI, with support for subagents and planning.
• Tab and SupercompleteFast autocomplete that predicts your next edit; unlimited Tab completions are included even on the free plan.
• Agent Client ProtocolRun third-party agents such as Codex, Claude Agent and OpenCode inside the same interface as Devin.
• Spaces and worktreesSpaces let several agents share context and Git worktrees on the same codebase without stepping on each other.
• Cloud handoff and reviewDelegate work to Devin Cloud on paid plans and run Quick Review, an agentic review of your local changes.

Who is Devin Desktop best for?

• Former Windsurf users who get the new editor automatically with their plan, settings and extensions intact.
• VS Code and Cursor users who want an AI-first editor and can import their keybindings and settings in a few clicks.
• Developers running several agents who want one dashboard for local agents, third-party agents and cloud sessions.

Popular ways to use Devin Desktop

• Everyday coding: write and refactor code with Tab completions and inline edits in a familiar IDE.
• Multi-file features: ask Devin Local to plan and implement a feature across several files, then review the diff.
• Parallel agents: run several agents on separate worktrees and track them on the Agent Command Center board.
• Comparing agents: try Codex or Claude Agent through ACP on the same task without leaving the editor.
• Background work: hand a long task to Devin Cloud and review its pull request inside the editor.

Devin Desktop pricing (October 2026)

Prices are from Cognition’s Devin pricing page, which now covers Devin Desktop. Paid allowances refresh daily and weekly, cost varies by model and task size, and Pro includes free use of the SWE-2 model in Devin Desktop and CLI until 16 October 2026.

Devin Desktop pros and cons

How to get started with Devin Desktop

1. Download Devin Desktop for your operating system from devin.ai.
2. During setup, import keybindings and settings from VS Code or Cursor if you use them.
3. Sign in with a Devin account or create a free one.
4. Review every diff before you commit or merge it.

Tips to get better results from Devin Desktop

• Use smaller models for routine edits to make your daily quota last longer.
• Give each parallel agent its own worktree so their changes stay separate.
• If you had scripts that called Cascade, point them at Devin Local instead.

Devin Desktop vs alternatives

Cursor is the closest rival, a VS Code-based editor with strong agents and its own models. GitHub Copilot fits teams that want AI inside their existing IDE and GitHub workflow, while Kiro from AWS puts specs and planning first.

If you prefer a terminal or cloud agent over an editor, look at OpenAI Codex, Claude Code from Claude or Amp. Devin Desktop stands out for managing many agents, including rivals, in one place. See all best AI coding tools.

Our verdict: is Devin Desktop worth it?

Devin Desktop FAQs

Pricing and features change often. Details on this page were last reviewed in October 2026. Always confirm current plans on the official Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) website.