Devin Desktop (Windsurf)
The renamed Windsurf editor, now combining a full IDE with a command center for coding agents.
Devin Desktop is the current name for Windsurf. The full IDE remains, while the product now puts more emphasis on assigning and reviewing work across local and cloud coding agents. Existing Windsurf plans and settings migrate with the update.
The rename matters for search more than for substance: a lot of what you will read about Windsurf predates Devin Desktop and describes a different product. Position it where editors sit — intelligence placed where you type or supervise, rather than where you run things. The honest comparison is not against terminal agents but against Cursor and Copilot, and the deciding factors there are usually the editor feel and what your team already has licences for.
Our take
Positioned between an editor and an agent: you get a normal editing experience plus a mode that will go away and carry out a multi-step change. That combination is genuinely useful, and it is also the category's most crowded position — the practical question is not whether it works but whether it works better than the tool you already have open.
Last checked 2026-07-26
Best for
- Wanting both inline assistance and agent runs in one place
- Developers evaluating alternatives to a VS Code fork they dislike
Limitations
- Another editor migration, with the same switching cost as any other
- Agent runs need the same supervision as any agent
- A fast-moving product; behaviour can change between releases
When to pick something else
- Teams already standardised on another editor with working AI support
- Anyone who wants completion only and finds agent modes a distraction
Key features
- Command center for local and cloud coding agents
- Full IDE for editing, debugging and reviewing changes
- Existing Windsurf plans, extensions and settings migrate
Compare Devin Desktop (Windsurf) with
Devin Desktop (Windsurf) alternatives
If Devin Desktop (Windsurf) is not the right fit, these solve similar problems.
- CursorEditor built around AI, with codebase-wide context rather than single-file autocomplete.Official: cursor.comfrom $20/mo
- GitHub CopilotThe most widely deployed coding assistant, available in most major editors.Official: github.com/features/copilotfrom $10/mo
- Claude CodeTerminal-based coding agent that runs commands and edits files directly.Official: claude.com/product/claude-codefrom $20/mo
- ClaudeAssistant known for long-context reasoning and writing that needs less editing.Official: claude.aifrom $20/mo
- Codex CLIOpenAI's open-source terminal coding agent, rewritten in Rust.Official: developers.openai.com/codex/clifrom $20/mo
- Gemini CLIGoogle's open-source terminal agent, with the most usable free tier of the group.Official: github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cliFree tier available