The best Windsurf (Devin Desktop) alternatives in 2026, ranked for builders
Windsurf is now Devin Desktop: Cognition renamed it on June 2, 2026, and windsurf.com/pricing redirects to devin.ai/pricing. If the rename, the move to usage quotas or the end of Cascade has you shopping around, here are seven real alternatives, from other AI-first editors to agents you can run inside the editor you already have, with who each is for and what it costs today. Every price was checked on the vendor's own site on Oct 19, 2026.
Facts and prices checked Oct 19, 2026 · no paid placements
Short answer: Cursor is the closest swap: another AI-first editor on the VS Code codebase, free to start, with Plus at $8/mo and third-party models like Claude from Premium at $30/mo. To keep VS Code or JetBrains, use GitHub Copilot (Free, Pro $10/mo). For a free agentic IDE from a big lab, use Google Antigravity (Individual $0). Devin Desktop itself is Free, Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo or Teams from $80/mo.
Windsurf (Devin Desktop) vs the alternatives at a glance (checked Oct 19, 2026)
| Tool | What it is | Free plan | Paid plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Desktop (Windsurf) | AI-first editor (a VS Code fork) with Cognition's Devin agents | Yes: a light agent quota on limited models, unlimited Tab and inline edits | Pro $20/mo; Max $200/mo; Teams $80/mo minimum ($40 per full seat); Enterprise custom |
| Cursor | AI-first editor on the VS Code codebase, plus a CLI | Yes: limited agent and chat requests | Plus $8/mo (Grok models); Premium $30/mo (third-party models at API list price); Super $100; Ultra $200; Teams from $30/user/mo |
| GitHub Copilot | Assistant for VS Code, JetBrains and more, plus Copilot CLI and cloud agents | Yes: 2,000 completions/mo plus limited chat and agent use | Pro $10/mo; Pro+ $39; Max $100; Business $19/user; Enterprise $39/user |
| Claude Code | Anthropic's agent for the terminal, VS Code and its forks, and JetBrains | No (not on Claude Free) | Claude Pro $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually); Max $100 or $200/mo; or API usage |
| Google Antigravity | Agent-first IDE, app, CLI and editor extensions | Yes: Individual $0 with basic weekly rate limits | Google AI Pro $19.99/mo; Ultra from $99.99/mo; Gemini Enterprise from $30/seat |
| OpenAI Codex | Coding agent in the ChatGPT desktop app, CLI, IDE extension and cloud | Yes: GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app (subject to rollout) | Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100, $200 or $500/mo; Business $20/user/mo billed annually |
| Zed | Fast open-source editor written in Rust (not a VS Code fork) | Yes: Personal $0 with your own keys or external agents | Pro $10/mo (free trial, $5 of tokens); Business $30/seat/mo |
| Cline | Open-source agent for VS Code and the terminal | Yes: free for individuals, you pay for inference | No subscription needed; optional ClinePass $9.99/mo for open-weight models; Enterprise custom |
Prices in USD per month, excluding tax. Usage-based costs (extra usage, API tokens, model overages) are on top. Kiro, OpenCode and Aider are covered under Also considered below.
Why builders look for Windsurf alternatives
Windsurf has changed a lot this year. In March 2026 Cognition replaced prompt credits with token-based daily and weekly quotas; the Free plan's quota size isn't published, and on Free you wait for the reset because extra usage is only sold on paid plans. On June 2, 2026 the editor became Devin Desktop. Devin Local, the agent shared with Devin CLI, is now the primary local agent and Cascade is being deprecated (a Cascade Migration Wizard moves workflows and memories into skills). The Windsurf JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode, with Cognition recommending Devin over ACP instead. There are no free trials of paid plans, and new Teams plans no longer include SSO, which is now Enterprise-only. None of that makes it a bad editor: Pro is still $20/mo with frontier models, Devin Cloud agents and extra usage at API pricing. But if you liked Windsurf for Cascade, for JetBrains, or for a predictable free tier, it's a good moment to compare.
The alternatives, ranked
- 01
CursorBest like-for-like swap: Cursor is an AI-first editor built on the VS Code codebase, like Devin Desktop, so your extensions, keybindings and habits come along. It has its own agent, cloud agents and automations, Bugbot code review and a CLI (run agent in any terminal). Free is $0 with limited agent and chat requests. Plus is $8/mo with a shared usage pool but only Grok models. Third-party models like Claude and GPT need Premium ($30/mo), where they're billed separately at API list price; Super is $100/mo and Ultra $200/mo. Teams starts at $30/user/mo.
- 02
GitHub CopilotBest if you'd rather keep VS Code or JetBrains: Copilot plugs into the editor you already use, plus GitHub itself, a desktop app and the terminal through Copilot CLI, which GitHub includes on every plan, Free included. Free is $0 with 2,000 completions a month plus limited chat and agent use. Pro is $10/mo with $15 of AI credits, Pro+ $39/mo ($70) and Max $100/mo ($200), and completions don't use credits on paid plans. Business is $19 and Enterprise $39 per user/mo. Its JetBrains plugin is actively developed, which matters now that Windsurf's is in maintenance mode.
- 03
Claude CodeBest agent to add instead of switching editors: Claude Code runs in the terminal, in VS Code and, per Anthropic's docs, in VS Code forks like Devin Desktop and Kiro (install it from the Extensions view or the Open VSX registry), plus JetBrains. So you can keep the editor and change the agent. It isn't on Claude's Free plan: you need Pro ($20/mo, or $17/mo billed annually), Max ($100 or $200/mo), a Team or Enterprise seat, or a Claude Console account billed at API rates.
- 04
Google AntigravityBest free agentic IDE: Google Antigravity is an agent-first platform with an IDE, an app, editor extensions, a CLI and an SDK. The Individual plan is $0 with a variety of agent models, unlimited Tab completions and command requests, and basic weekly rate limits. Google AI Pro ($19.99/mo in the US) raises the limits and adds a flexible AI credit pool; Ultra starts at $99.99/mo. Companies on Google Cloud can buy it through Gemini Enterprise (Standard and Plus from $30/seat/mo) or pay as they go.
- 05
OpenAI CodexBest if you already pay for ChatGPT: OpenAI's Codex agent has an open-source CLI (Apache-2.0, about 130,000 GitHub stars), cloud tasks, code review and an IDE extension that OpenAI lists for VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf, so it also works without leaving Devin Desktop. Free ($0) and Go ($8/mo) get GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app (subject to rollout). Plus ($20/mo) adds Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension and on iOS. Pro is $100, $200 or $500/mo; Business is $20/user/mo billed annually ($25 monthly, 2+ users). Devin Pro, Max and Teams users can also link a ChatGPT Go, Plus or Pro plan so GPT usage in Devin bills to ChatGPT.
- 06
ZedBest if you want out of VS Code forks altogether: Zed is a fast, open-source editor written in Rust. Personal is $0 forever, with unlimited use when you bring your own API keys or run external agents like Claude Agent and Codex CLI. Pro is $10/mo with a free trial, unlimited edit predictions and $5 of tokens, then usage-based billing. Business is $30/seat/mo with org-wide AI policies and no seat minimum.
- 07
ClineBest open-source agent, and the cheapest way to pay only for tokens: Cline (Apache-2.0, about 70,500 GitHub stars) runs in VS Code and the terminal, edits files across your project, runs commands, uses MCP servers and asks for approval at each step. It's free for individual developers: you pay only for inference, with your own API key (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter and many more) or through Cline at cost; an optional ClinePass subscription ($9.99/mo) covers open-weight models with a quota. Enterprise (custom pricing) adds SSO, an SLA and the JetBrains extension.
How to choose
Want the same kind of editor with a different agent and price ladder? Cursor (free to start, Plus $8/mo, third-party models from Premium at $30/mo). Want to stay in VS Code or JetBrains? GitHub Copilot, from $0, with Pro at $10/mo. Like Devin Desktop but want a different agent? Add Claude Code or Codex to it; both extensions install in VS Code forks. Want a free agentic IDE? Google Antigravity's Individual plan. Want a fast editor that isn't a VS Code fork? Zed. Want open source and to pay only for tokens? Cline. Happy with Devin Desktop but hitting the Free quota? Pro at $20/mo may be cheaper than switching, and Max ($200/mo) has a weekly quota with no daily cap.
Taking your setup with you
Devin Desktop is a VS Code fork, and so are Cursor and Kiro (Kiro is built on Code OSS and imports VS Code settings, themes and Open VSX extensions), so most extensions, keybindings and themes move over. What doesn't carry over is the agent layer: Cascade workflows and memories, Devin Local skills and Devin Cloud sessions stay with Cognition. Rules files are the easy part to keep. Kiro supports AGENTS.md and skills, and most of the agents here read a project instructions file. If you're on the Windsurf JetBrains plugin, Copilot's JetBrains plugin or Claude Code's JetBrains plugin are the closest drop-ins. On a paid Devin plan you can cancel any time and keep access to the end of the billing period, then drop to Free.
Also considered
Kiro is a spec-driven AI IDE built on Code OSS, with Kiro CLI and ACP support. Its free tier has 50 credits a month (Claude Sonnet 4.5 and open-weight models when you sign up with a social login or AWS Builder ID), then Pro $20 (1,000 credits), Pro+ $40 (2,000), Pro Max $100 (5,000) and Power $200 (10,000) per user/mo, with add-on credits at $0.04 each and $20 credited on your first upgrade. OpenCode is an open-source (MIT, about 217,000 GitHub stars) agent for the terminal, a desktop app and IDEs, with free models included or 75+ providers, and you can log in with a GitHub Copilot or ChatGPT Plus/Pro account; its optional Go plan is $10/mo ($40 for Go Plus) for open models. Aider is a free, open-source (Apache-2.0) terminal pair programmer on your own key, but its latest release is v0.86.2 (Feb 12, 2026) and the last commit to its repo was May 22, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Windsurf?
Cursor for most people, since it's the closest like-for-like AI editor: free to start, Plus at $8/mo, and Claude or GPT models from Premium at $30/mo. Pick GitHub Copilot to stay in VS Code or JetBrains, Google Antigravity for a free agentic IDE, Zed for a fast non-VS Code editor, and Cline for open source on your own API key.
Is there a free alternative to Windsurf?
Yes. Cursor Free, GitHub Copilot Free (2,000 completions a month plus limited chat and agent use), Google Antigravity's Individual plan (basic weekly rate limits), Codex on ChatGPT Free (subject to rollout), Zed Personal and Kiro's free tier (50 credits) all cost $0. Cline and OpenCode are free and open source, but you pay your model provider for tokens unless you use free models. Devin Desktop also still has a Free plan with a light agent quota.
Is Windsurf the same as Devin Desktop?
Yes. Cognition renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026, as an over-the-air update that kept plans, pricing, extensions and settings. windsurf.com and windsurf.com/pricing now redirect to devin.ai.
Is Cursor cheaper than Windsurf?
At the entry level, yes: Cursor Plus is $8/mo against Devin Desktop Pro at $20/mo, but Plus only includes Grok models. For third-party models like Claude, Cursor Premium is $30/mo plus API list price for that usage, while Devin Pro includes frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others within its quota. At the top, Cursor Ultra and Devin Max are both $200/mo. For teams, Cursor starts at $30/user/mo; Devin Teams is $40 per full seat with an $80/mo minimum.
What happened to Cascade?
Cascade, Windsurf's original agent, is being deprecated in Devin Desktop. Devin Local, the agent shared with Devin CLI, is now the primary local agent, and the Devin: Open Cascade Migration Wizard command moves your memories and workflows into skills. The Windsurf JetBrains plugin, which runs Cascade, is in maintenance mode; Cognition recommends Devin over ACP in JetBrains instead.
Can I keep Devin Desktop and use a different agent?
Yes. Anthropic's docs say the Claude Code extension installs in VS Code forks like Devin Desktop (from the Extensions view or Open VSX), and OpenAI lists Windsurf as a supported editor for the Codex IDE extension. Each uses its own plan: Claude Code needs a paid Claude plan or Console account, and Codex's IDE extension comes with ChatGPT Plus and up.
Facts and prices checked on vendor pages on Oct 19, 2026: Devin pricing (windsurf.com/pricing redirects here), Devin Desktop, Introducing Devin Desktop (Jun 2, 2026), Devin docs: self-serve plans, Devin Desktop docs: plans and usage, Devin Desktop docs: quota-based usage, Devin docs: use your ChatGPT plan, Devin Desktop docs: Devin Local, Windsurf JetBrains plugin (maintenance mode), Cursor pricing, Cursor CLI, GitHub Copilot plans, Copilot plans (docs), Copilot CLI, Claude pricing, Claude help: Claude Code with Pro or Max, Claude Code in VS Code and forks, Google Antigravity pricing, Google AI plans, Codex pricing, Codex IDE extension, Codex on GitHub, Zed pricing, Zed external agents, Cline pricing, Cline on GitHub, ClinePass, Kiro pricing, Kiro, OpenCode, OpenCode Go, OpenCode on GitHub, Aider on GitHub, Aider on PyPI. Plans and limits change often, so confirm before you buy.