Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) Review
Reviewed by Carlos Gil · Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Updated 6 min readEditorially reviewed
Quick facts
- Starting price
- Free; Pro $20/mo; Max $200/mo; Teams $80/mo + $40 per seat
- Free plan
- Yes
- Best for
- Developers and teams who want an AI-first IDE that also manages local and cloud coding agents, including third-party ones
- Platforms
- macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10 and 11 (x64 and Arm), Linux; CLI; JetBrains plugin in maintenance mode
BestStacked Score
Weighted average of 5 categories. Methodology below.
Quick answer
What happened to Windsurf, and is Devin Desktop worth paying for?
Windsurf, the AI code editor formerly called Codeium, was acquired by Cognition (the maker of the Devin coding agent) in July 2025 and renamed Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026; windsurf.com now redirects to devin.ai. It's still a full VS Code-style IDE, now built around an Agent Command Center that runs Cognition's Devin Local agent (Cascade's successor), Devin Cloud sessions and third-party agents such as Codex and Claude Agent. It's worth it for developers who want one place to run and review several agents. On October 14, 2026 it had a free plan with a light agent quota, Pro at $20 a month, a new Max plan at $200 and Teams at $80 a month plus $40 per developer seat. Quotas aren't published as numbers, and the docs say data may be used for training by default unless you opt out on a paid plan.
- Best for
- Developers who want an AI IDE that manages local, cloud and third-party coding agents in one place.
- Skip it if
- You need a JetBrains or VS Code plugin (they're in maintenance mode) or predictable, published usage numbers.
- Strongest capability
- An Agent Command Center that runs Devin Local, Devin Cloud and ACP-compatible agents side by side, plus unlimited Tab completions.
- Biggest limitation
- Quotas are described, not quantified, and the docs say data may train models by default unless you opt out.
- Current cost
- Free; Pro $20 a month; Max $200; Teams $80 a month plus $40 per full developer seat; Enterprise quoted.
The Verdict
Devin Desktop is the same editor Windsurf users know, rebuilt around agents. Its Agent Command Center shows local and cloud sessions on a Kanban board, Spaces share context and Git worktrees between agents, and Agent Client Protocol support means Codex, Claude Agent and OpenCode run alongside Cognition's own Devin Local, which replaced Cascade. Tab completions are unlimited on every plan, Pro at $20 a month adds frontier models and Devin Cloud, and a new $200 Max plan targets heavy users. The trade-offs come from the transition: Cognition describes quotas as light, increased or significantly higher rather than publishing numbers, the IDE plugins for JetBrains and VS Code are in maintenance mode, the docs disagree on whether customer data is used for training by default, and payments are non-refundable. We score Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) 8.4/10.
Best for
Developers and teams who want one IDE to run and review several coding agents, local and cloud.
Skip if
You rely on a JetBrains or VS Code plugin, need published usage limits, or can't accept training on your code by default.
AlternativesCursor, GitHub Copilot, Replit
The Background
What Is Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)?
Windsurf began as Codeium, a free autocomplete tool from Exafunction, Inc., and became the Windsurf Editor, a VS Code-based IDE with an agent called Cascade. Cognition AI, Inc., the company behind the Devin coding agent, announced on July 14, 2025 that it was acquiring Windsurf's IP, product, trademark, brand and business along with its team; no price was disclosed. On June 2, 2026 Cognition renamed the editor Devin Desktop and shipped it to existing users as an over-the-air update, saying plans and pricing stayed the same. Devin Desktop is a full IDE with an Agent Command Center for managing local and cloud agents, Devin Local (a Rust rewrite and successor to Cascade), Spaces for sharing context, and support for third-party agents through the open Agent Client Protocol. It sits in a lineup with Devin Cloud, Devin CLI and Devin Review. The JetBrains plugin still carries the Windsurf name and is in maintenance mode.
The Product
Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) Features: What You Actually Get
Agent Command Center and Spaces
The default view is a Kanban board of every local and cloud agent session, grouped into Spaces that share sessions, pull requests, files, context and Git worktrees. You plan, delegate and review from one place, then drop into the editor to read and debug changes.
A developer runs one agent on a refactor and another on tests in separate worktrees, then reviews both pull requests from the board.
Devin Local and third-party agents
Devin Local replaced Cascade as the main local agent; Cognition says it was rewritten in Rust, keeps Cascade's capabilities and settings, is up to 30% more token efficient and supports subagents. Through the Agent Client Protocol, Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode and in-house agents run in the same interface.
A team compares Devin Local and Claude Agent on the same bug in one Space before merging the better fix.
Full IDE with unlimited Tab completions
The editor keeps the extensions, keybindings and language servers of Windsurf and VS Code. Tab completions and inline edits are unlimited on every plan, including Free.
A student uses the free plan for autocomplete all day and saves the light agent quota for harder tasks.
Models and Devin Cloud
Pro adds frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini) and SpaceXAI plus open-source models, Cognition's own SWE-2 model (the models documentation says free use for self-serve plans ended October 15, 2026, with list pricing of $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens afterward, while the pricing page still lists "Free use of SWE-2" on Pro, both checked October 19, 2026), and Devin Cloud for long-running agents on Cognition's machines. Extra usage beyond the plan allowance is billed at API prices.
A freelancer hands a long migration to Devin Cloud overnight and reviews the pull request in the morning.
Feature recap
- VS Code-compatible IDE with unlimited Tab completions on every plan
- Agent Command Center with Kanban view and Spaces
- Devin Local agent (Cascade's successor) and Devin Cloud on Pro
- Third-party agents via the Agent Client Protocol (Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode)
- Models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, SpaceXAI and Cognition's SWE-2
- Usage allowance refreshing daily and weekly; extra usage at API prices
- SOC 2 Type II; FedRAMP and IL4 for federal deployments
- JetBrains and other IDE plugins in maintenance mode
The Numbers
Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) Pricing: Every Plan Explained
These are Devin Desktop's prices on October 14, 2026 (re-checked unchanged on October 19), from devin.ai/pricing (windsurf.com/pricing redirects there), in US dollars per month.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Included Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Light agent quota, limited models, unlimited inline edits and Tab completions | Trying the editor and agent manager |
| ProBest value | $20/mo | — | Increased quotas, all frontier models, SWE-2 (pricing page says free; docs say list pricing after Oct 15, 2026), Devin Cloud, extra usage at API prices | Individual developers |
| Max | $200/mo | — | Everything in Pro with significantly higher quotas | Heavy daily agent users |
| Teams | $80/mo + $40 per full dev seat | — | Everything in Pro, up to 200 users, centralized billing, admin dashboard and analytics, priority support | Small engineering teams |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | SAML/OIDC SSO, central admin controls, dedicated or VPC deployment, dedicated account team | Large or regulated engineering orgs |
Since March 2026 Devin Desktop's self-serve plans use usage allowances that refresh daily and weekly, with extra usage billed at API prices; the pricing page doesn't publish the size of each allowance, so heavy users can't predict when they'll hit the cap. Model choice drives consumption: the models documentation lists multipliers such as 1 for Claude Haiku 4.5, 4 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 and 6 to 12 for Cognition's SWE-2 tiers. Teams costs $80 a month for the plan plus $40 per full developer seat, so a five-person team pays $280 a month. Credit-based Enterprise customers buy add-on credits at $120 per 1,000. Cognition's terms say all payments are non-refundable and subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled before the renewal date. Free trials are offered only occasionally as promotions.
What changed
From Codeium to Windsurf to Devin Desktop
Cognition announced its acquisition of Windsurf on July 14, 2025, taking its IP, product, trademark, brand, business and team; its memo cited $82 million of annual recurring revenue and 350-plus enterprise customers. Cognition's platform terms (updated June 30, 2026) name Cognition AI, Inc., with Exafunction, Inc. remaining the contracting party for users who enrolled under it.
On June 2, 2026 Windsurf became Devin Desktop through an automatic update. Cognition says plans, pricing and extensions stayed the same, legacy Windsurf Enterprise plans continue, and legacy Enterprise sign-in still lives at windsurf.com/enterprise. The legacy Cascade agent remained available through July 2026 (the blog says July 1, the docs say through July).
The Windsurf JetBrains plugin and the VS Code, Visual Studio, Vim and Neovim, Jupyter, Chrome and Eclipse plugins are in maintenance mode, and the plugin docs say Cascade is being deprecated there. If you work in JetBrains, plan around that.
Read before you buy
Data training defaults and conflicting pages
Devin's security documentation says that by default Cognition may use your data for model training, and that opting out on a paid plan enables zero data retention with its model providers; on Teams, only an admin can opt out. The same security page now adds that Enterprise customers' data is never used for training without their express prior written consent, while a separate enterprise security page says, without naming a plan, that by default Cognition doesn't train its models on customer data or code. Read together (both checked October 19, 2026), the training default applies to Free, Pro, Max and Teams, and Enterprise is excluded. Confirm your setting before working on proprietary code.
Free SWE-2: on October 14 the pricing page said SWE-2 was free through October 16, 2026 and the models documentation said through October 15. On October 19 the models documentation still says the free period for self-serve plans ran through October 15, 2026, with list pricing ($3 per million input tokens, $15 per million output, $0.30 per million cached input) afterward, while the pricing page still lists "Free use of SWE-2" on Pro and a "Free SWE-2" row with no end date. Check your usage page before relying on free SWE-2.
Billing: the pricing page describes usage allowances with extra usage at API prices, while the usage documentation still describes prompt credits and $120 add-on packs for credit-based Enterprise customers, and the rename FAQ says users on prompt-based credits continue on them.
The Tradeoffs
Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) Pros and Cons
What we love
- Full IDE plus an agent manager for local, cloud and third-party agents
- Unlimited Tab completions and inline edits, even on Free
- Pro at $20 a month includes frontier models and Devin Cloud
- Agent Client Protocol support for Codex, Claude Agent and OpenCode
- SOC 2 Type II; FedRAMP and IL4 for federal use
- Existing Windsurf plans and pricing carried over
What could be better
- Usage quotas aren't published as numbers
- Docs say data may train models by default unless you opt out
- JetBrains and VS Code plugins in maintenance mode
- Payments non-refundable; no standing free trial
- Rename means docs and plugins still mix Windsurf and Devin names
The Audience
Who Should Use Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)?
Best for: developers running several agents
Engineers who already use more than one coding agent get one board to dispatch, monitor and review them, with shared context in Spaces.
Best for: former Windsurf users
Existing users keep their plan and pricing, and the editor stays compatible with their Windsurf and VS Code extensions and keybindings.
Skip if: you live in JetBrains
The JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode, so JetBrains users should look at GitHub Copilot or JetBrains' own AI tools instead.
The Methodology
How We Reviewed Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)
This is an editorial review, not a documented hands-on test. We didn't use a Windsurf or Devin Desktop account for this review. It's based on Cognition's pricing page (rendered in a browser), the Devin Desktop page and FAQ, the June 2, 2026 rename announcement, the July 2025 acquisition post, the SWE-2 announcement, Devin documentation on plugins, models, usage, security and federal compliance, the download page and Cognition's platform terms of service, all checked on October 14, 2026. Where Cognition's pages differ, we report both statements. No coding-quality, speed or support results are claimed.
Our editorial evaluation considers product information, official documentation, pricing, features and professional experience. It is not a claim of documented hands-on testing.
Our review methodology →What changed
- : Fact-check follow-up (checked on devin.ai/pricing, docs.devin.ai/desktop/models, docs.devin.ai/admin/security and docs.devin.ai/enterprise/security-access/security/enterprise-security on 2026-10-19). Free SWE-2: the models docs say it ended October 15, 2026 for self-serve plans (list pricing $3/$15 per 1M tokens afterward) while the pricing page still lists free SWE-2 with no date; both now stated. Training defaults: the security page now says Enterprise data isn't trained on without written consent, so the default-training statement applies to self-serve plans; both pages cited. Plan prices (Free, Pro $20, Max $200, Teams $80 + $40/seat) unchanged. Score untouched.
- : First published. Editorial review of Windsurf as Devin Desktop based on Cognition's pricing page (rendered), Devin Desktop page and FAQ, rename and acquisition announcements, SWE-2 post, Devin docs on plugins, models, usage, security and federal compliance, download page and platform terms, all checked October 14, 2026.
The Field
Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) vs The Competition
Devin Desktop competes with other AI code editors and coding agents. Prices below were checked on each vendor's pricing page on October 14, 2026, in US dollars.
| Tool | Starting Price | Free plan | Best Feature | BS Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) | Free; Pro $20/mo; Max $200/mo; Teams $80/mo + $40 per seat | Yes | Agent Command Center and Spaces | 8.4/10 |
| Cursor | Free; Plus $8/mo (Grok models only); Premium $30/mo | Yes | AI-native editor with cloud agents | 9.4/10 |
| GitHub Copilot | Free; Pro $10/mo | Yes | Works inside the editor you already use | 8.8/10 |
| Claude Code | Included with Claude Pro, $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually) | No | Terminal-first coding agent from Anthropic | —No BestStacked review yet |
| Cline | Free open-source extension; Enterprise custom | Yes | Open-source agent with bring-your-own-key models | —No BestStacked review yet |
Cursor: Cursor's pricing page now sells Plus, Premium, Super and Ultra plans bundled with X and Grok perks; Plus runs Grok models only, and third-party models on Premium and up are billed separately by usage. Compare model access carefully before switching.Read our Cursor review →See Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) vs Cursor →
GitHub Copilot: Copilot plugs into VS Code, JetBrains and other editors instead of replacing your editor, with a free tier and AI-credit billing on paid plans. It's the safer pick for JetBrains users.Read our GitHub Copilot review →
Claude Code: Claude Code comes with Claude Pro and Max plans rather than a separate subscription and can run inside Devin Desktop as Claude Agent through the Agent Client Protocol. BestStacked hasn't reviewed Claude Code separately.
Cline: Cline is an open-source coding agent where you pay model providers at cost or bring your own keys. BestStacked hasn't reviewed Cline yet.
Use cases
Example setups by buyer type
A solo developer on a budget
Start on Free for unlimited Tab completions and a light agent quota. Move to Pro ($20 a month) for frontier models and Devin Cloud, and opt out of training if your code is proprietary.
A five-person startup team
Teams costs $80 a month plus $40 per full developer seat, $280 a month for five, with an admin dashboard and centralized billing. An admin controls the training opt-out.
A federal or regulated engineering group
Devin Desktop and the CLI are listed for FedRAMP and IL4, with zero data retention in federal deployments. Enterprise adds SSO and VPC deployment; pricing is quoted.
The Ecosystem
Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) Integrations
Devin Desktop connects to models, agents, source control and team tools.
- →Models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, SpaceXAI and open-source providers, plus SWE-2
- →Third-party agents via the Agent Client Protocol (Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode)
- →GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket
- →Slack, Microsoft Teams, Linear and Jira
- →VS Code-compatible extensions; JetBrains plugin in maintenance mode
Slack, Teams, Linear, Jira and Git-provider integrations are listed on the pricing page's comparison table; custom Git providers are Enterprise-only.
Common Questions
Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) FAQ
The Final Word
Should You Use Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)?
Windsurf lives on as Devin Desktop, a capable AI IDE that now doubles as a command center for local, cloud and third-party coding agents, at the same $20 Pro price. Check the training opt-out, expect quotas described rather than numbered, and look elsewhere if you work in JetBrains. We score Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) 8.4/10.
Yes, if
You want an AI-first IDE that runs and reviews several coding agents, and you're comfortable managing the training opt-out.
No, if
You depend on a JetBrains or VS Code plugin, or need published usage limits.
About the reviewer
Carlos Gil
Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Carlos Gil is the Founder & Editor of The Best Network, bestselling author of The End of Marketing, and a LinkedIn Top Voice. His digital marketing career began in 2008 and spans corporate roles at LinkedIn and BMC Software, consulting for global brands, creator partnerships, and building his own businesses.
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