If you're comparing Windsurf in 2026, start with one fact: it no longer ships under that name. Cognition, the company behind the Devin agent, bought Windsurf (reportedly ~$250M, terms not officially disclosed) and pushed an over-the-air rebrand to Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026. Your settings, keybindings, extensions, and pricing all carried over, but the editor, the agent names, and the roadmap changed. So the real 2026 question is a three-way race: Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Windsurf-now-Devin-Desktop. Here's who each one is actually for.
At a glance (verified June 2026)
| Cursor | GitHub Copilot | Windsurf → Devin Desktop | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Hobby — limited Agent + Tab | Free — 2,000 completions/mo + limited chat | Free — light daily/weekly quota, unlimited Tab |
| Entry paid | Pro $20/mo | Pro $10/mo (incl. $15 AI Credits) | Pro $20/mo (was $15 before Mar 2026) |
| Higher tiers | Pro+ $60 · Ultra $200 | Pro+ $39 ($70 credits) · Max $100 ($200 credits) | Max $200/mo |
| Team plan | Teams $40/user/mo | Business $19/seat · Enterprise $39/seat | Teams $40/user/mo · Enterprise custom |
| Billing model | Finite credit pool per plan; Auto/Composer draws from it at a lower rate, frontier models drain faster, overages billed at API rates | Usage-based AI Credits (1 credit = $0.01) since June 1, 2026 | Daily/weekly quotas (credits retired Mar 19, 2026) |
| Form factor | Standalone VS Code fork | Plugin (VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Neovim, github.com) | Standalone editor (VS Code-based) |
| Signature model/agent | Composer 2.5 (Cursor's post-trained model, built on Moonshot's Kimi K2.5 open checkpoint) | Multi-model: GPT-5.x, Claude 4.6, Gemini 3, Grok | SWE-1.5/1.6 + Devin Local agent |
| Best at | Parallel multi-agent UI, deep editor integration | Broadest IDE + model choice, GitHub-native | Codemaps, autonomous Devin agent, run other agents via ACP |
Prices move fast in this space. Confirm the live numbers before you commit — see the checklist note at the end.
Cursor — the power-user editor
Cursor is a standalone VS Code fork built around AI-native editing, and it leans hardest into the "live in the editor all day" workflow. The headline in 2026 is Composer 2.5, Cursor's post-trained model (built on Moonshot's Kimi K2.5 open checkpoint) released May 18, 2026. Cursor reports it scoring 79.8% on SWE-Bench Multilingual, and its Fast variant runs about 30% quicker than the standard one — fast enough to keep the agent in the loop instead of waiting on it. The parallel multi-agent interface from Cursor 2.0 lets you run several agents side by side on the same repo.
Pricing is credit-based, and the important thing to understand is that every paid plan has a finite credit pool — there is no unlimited tier. Auto and Composer modes draw from that same pool, just at a lower rate, so they drain it slowly; frontier models like Claude Sonnet or GPT-5 drain it faster. The pools aren't strictly price-proportional: Pro ($20/mo) ships with a $20 pool, Pro+ ($60) with a $70 pool, and Ultra ($200) with a $400 pool. When you exhaust the pool, overage usage is billed in arrears at API rates. If you lean on Auto and reach for premium models deliberately, costs stay predictable; if you pin everything to a frontier model, expect on-demand charges.
GitHub Copilot — the low-risk default
Copilot is the safe pick when switching editors is a non-starter. It runs as a plugin across VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Neovim, and github.com, and it stays the most tightly wired into pull requests and the rest of the GitHub workflow. It's also the broadest on models — you can route between OpenAI (GPT-5.x), Anthropic (Claude Haiku/Sonnet/Opus 4.x), Google Gemini 3, and xAI Grok, including model selection for Claude and Codex agents on github.com.
The big 2026 change is billing. On June 1, 2026, every plan moved to usage-based AI Credits (1 credit = $0.01), with a monthly allotment baked in and the option to buy more. Pro is $10/mo with $15 of credits, Pro+ is $39 ($70 credits, including Opus access), and Max is $100 ($200 credits). One thing that softens the change: code completions and Next Edit Suggestions stay included and don't burn credits — only the heavier agent and chat features meter against your balance. For teams, Business is $19/seat and Enterprise $39/seat. The cheapest entry point of the three, with the caveat that heavy agent use can now push you past the included credits.
Windsurf → Devin Desktop — agent-first
This is the one in transition. Cognition acquired Windsurf in 2025 — announced July 14, 2025, reportedly ~$250M with terms not officially disclosed — and rebranded the editor to Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026 via OTA update. The bundled local agent is now Devin Local, Devin Cloud agent access starts on the $20 Pro plan, and the old Cascade agent is end-of-life July 1, 2026. The pitch is autonomy: hand a whole task to Devin and let it work, then use Codemaps to navigate large codebases. The launch also added Agent Client Protocol (ACP) support, so you can run Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode, and other ACP agents inside the same editor — useful if you don't want to be locked to one vendor's agent.
Pricing was overhauled March 19, 2026, when the old credit system gave way to daily/weekly quotas. Free ships with a light quota and unlimited Tab; Pro is $20/mo (up from $15); Max is $200/mo; Teams is $40/user/mo. Under the hood are the proprietary SWE-1.5 → SWE-1.6 coding models. The trade-off is obvious: it's the most autonomous workflow, on the most recently rebranded platform.
Which should you pick
Pick Cursor if you're an individual power user or a small startup team that wants the most capable AI-native editor and plans to live inside it. The parallel-agent workflow and Composer 2.5's speed are the draw, and $20 Pro with Auto mode keeps spend in check.
Pick GitHub Copilot if you're on a team already in the GitHub ecosystem, want to keep your current IDE, and value model choice plus low switching risk over a bespoke editor. It's the cheapest way in at $10 — just watch the usage-based billing now that it's live.
Pick Devin Desktop (ex-Windsurf) if you want the most autonomous, agent-first workflow: delegating whole tasks to Devin Local or Cloud and using Codemaps on big repos. Fair warning that it's a fast-moving platform mid-rebrand.
Short version: Cursor is the best AI-native editor for power users, Copilot is the safest team and ecosystem default, and Devin Desktop is the most autonomous agent-first IDE.
FAQ
Is Windsurf discontinued?
Not discontinued — renamed. Cognition rebranded Windsurf to Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026 through an over-the-air update, and existing settings, extensions, and subscriptions carried over automatically. The old Cascade agent is being retired on July 1, 2026 in favor of Devin Local.
Is Cursor or Copilot cheaper?
Copilot has the lower entry price at $10/mo versus Cursor's $20/mo. But both now meter premium usage — Copilot through AI Credits and Cursor when you draw down its credit pool — so the real cost depends on how heavily you use agents. For light, completion-heavy use Copilot wins on price; for constant agent work the gap narrows.
Did GitHub Copilot get more expensive?
The sticker prices didn't change, but the model did. Since June 1, 2026 all plans bill on usage-based AI Credits, so heavy chat and agent use can run past your included allotment. Code completions and Next Edit Suggestions stay free of credit charges.
Can I run Claude or Codex agents inside these editors?
Yes, depending on the tool. Copilot supports model selection across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI. Devin Desktop added Agent Client Protocol (ACP) support so you can run Codex, Claude Agent, and OpenCode inside the editor. Cursor lets you select frontier models like Claude Sonnet and GPT-5 within its own agent.
