Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) vs Cursor in 2026

Cognition renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop and made an agent command center the main view, and Cursor was bought by SpaceX in August 2026 and moved to Grok-bundled plans.

Updated Oct 26, 2026 · 5 sources checked

The short answer

Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, an editor built around running and supervising several agents, with frontier models from multiple vendors included on the $20 Pro plan.

Pick Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) for developers who want one editor to run and supervise several coding agents, local and cloud, side by side

Pick Cursor for developers who want an AI-first editor with fast tab completion and are happy to use Grok models, or to pay extra for Claude and GPT

At a glance

	Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)	Cursor
Made by	Cognition	SpaceX (acquired Cursor's maker Anysphere in August 2026)
Starts at	$20/moFree plan	$8/moFree plan
All plans	Free (light quota); Pro $20/mo; Max $200/mo; Teams $80/mo plus $40 per full dev seat; Enterprise custom. Windsurf plans and settings carried over unchanged.	Free; Plus $8/mo (Grok models only); Premium $30/mo; Super $100/mo; Ultra $200/mo; Teams from $30/user/mo; Enterprise custom. Claude, GPT and Gemini are not in the included usage: on Premium and above they are billed separately at API list price.
Best for	Developers who want one editor to run and supervise several coding agents, local and cloud, side by side	Developers who want an AI-first editor with fast tab completion and are happy to use Grok models, or to pay extra for Claude and GPT

How they score

Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)Cursor

Coding

8.5

Writing

Reasoning

8.5

Speed

8.5

Context Window

8.5

Privacy

6.5

Scores out of 10: our judgment from hands-on use and each vendor's published limits.

Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)

by Cognition

The Windsurf AI editor, now renamed Devin Desktop by Cognition, which bought Windsurf in 2025. It keeps the editor and Supercomplete tab completion and adds an Agent Command Center (Spaces, Kanban view) for running local and cloud agents, including third-party agents through the Agent Client Protocol.

Good

Pro includes frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceXAI, plus Cognition's SWE-2 at no extra cost
Pro includes access to Devin Cloud for running agents remotely
Agent Command Center manages many agents in one Kanban view, including other vendors' agents via ACP
Supercomplete tab completion predicts multi-line edits
Existing Windsurf settings and extensions carry over

Watch out

The rename and new agent-first layout mean older Windsurf tutorials no longer match the app
Pricing page gives no fixed credit numbers; quotas refresh daily and weekly and vary by model
Max jumps straight from $20 to $200/mo
The Devin Desktop page only offers a macOS download; Windsurf for JetBrains remains separately available

Visit Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) ↗

Cursor

by SpaceX (acquired Cursor's maker Anysphere in August 2026)

AI code editor built on VS Code, with tab completion, an agent, cloud agents and AI code review (Bugbot). Since SpaceX bought it in August 2026, its plans are bundled with Grok and X features, and its included models are xAI's Grok and Cursor's own Composer models.

Good

Full VS Code-style editor with strong tab completion and inline edits
Included usage covers Grok 4.7 (256k context, with a 500k long-context option) and Cursor's Composer 2.5
Premium and above add cloud agents, automations, code hosting and Bugbot code review
Can still use Claude, GPT, Gemini and other third-party models at API list price
Runs VS Code extensions, including the Claude Code and Codex extensions

Watch out

The $8 Plus plan only runs Grok models
Claude and GPT usage is billed on top of the subscription, so costs are harder to predict
Plans now mix in X social-network perks, which can be confusing if you only want the editor
Teams and Enterprise add a $0.25 per million token Cursor rate on eligible third-party model use

Visit Cursor ↗

Our verdict

Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, an editor built around running and supervising several agents, with frontier models from multiple vendors included on the $20 Pro plan. Cursor is now SpaceX-owned, with Grok models included and Claude or GPT billed extra. If you want Claude and GPT included in one flat price, Devin Desktop Pro is the simpler deal; if you want the most polished tab completion and are happy with Grok, Cursor is strong.

Questions people ask

What happened to Windsurf?

Cognition, which bought Windsurf in 2025, renamed it Devin Desktop. The windsurf.com site now redirects to devin.ai/desktop. Plans, pricing, extensions and settings carried over through a normal update.

Is Windsurf (Devin Desktop) cheaper than Cursor?

At the entry paid tier, Devin Desktop Pro is $20/mo and includes frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceXAI. Cursor Premium is $30/mo with Grok included and third-party models billed at API price. Cursor's Plus plan is $8/mo but Grok-only.

What makes Devin Desktop different from Cursor?

Its main screen is an Agent Command Center with Spaces and a Kanban view for running local and cloud agents, including other vendors' agents through the Agent Client Protocol. Cursor is still centered on the editor, with cloud agents as an add-on on Premium and above.

Should I switch from Cursor to Windsurf?

Consider it if most of your usage is Claude or GPT, since those are included on Devin Desktop Pro but billed extra in Cursor. Stay on Cursor if you like its tab completion and Grok models cover your work.

Sources (5), checked Oct 26, 2026