Cursor vs Windsurf 2026: Pricing, Agents, Verdict

Short answer: pick Cursor if you want the widest model menu and the deepest editor, and pick Windsurf, sold as Devin Desktop since its rename, if you want the cheaper individual seat and an editor wired to an autonomous cloud agent. Devin Desktop Pro is $20/mo, Cursor Premium is $30/mo, and both top tiers list $200/mo. A ten-person team pays $300/mo on Cursor Teams and $400/mo on Devin Teams.

Both products changed hands in 2026, which is why the names on this page may not match the ones in your bookmarks. Windsurf became Devin Desktop under Cognition, and its Cascade agent was joined by Devin Local; Cursor became part of SpaceX in August 2026 and rebuilt its plans around Grok with third-party models billed at API price. Every figure below was read on Cursor's pricing page, Devin's self-serve billing doc and Devin Desktop docs on October 17, 2026.

Toolradar data: the AI coding ranking on Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 179 AI coding tools as of October 2026, and 88% of them are free, freemium or open source. Both editors sit in that majority with a free tier, so the free plan is not the deciding factor; the paid seat and the agent are. Directory records: Cursor, Windsurf and Devin.

Quick verdict

Where each tool stands in 2026

Cursor is a VS Code fork with the most complete AI surface of any editor. Tab predicts the next edit, Agent plans and applies multi-file changes, cloud agents run for hours on a task, Bugbot reviews pull requests on GitHub, and a CLI and Slack integration carry the same agent outside the editor. The model list on the homepage runs from Grok 4.7 and GPT-5.6 Sol to Opus 5.5 and Gemini 3.1 Pro, and the pricing page says third-party models are billed separately at API list price on Premium and above. Our Cursor review covers the editor in depth and Cursor pricing walks every plan.

Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, the editor half of Cognition's Devin. The docs describe Tab (Tab to Jump, Tab to Import, inline suggestions on a custom model), Devin Local, which brings the Devin CLI agent harness with subagents, sandboxing, plan mode, worktrees and permissions into the editor, the legacy Cascade agent with checkpoints and voice input, parallel agents in arena mode, and Previews for web apps. The same plans include Devin's cloud agents, so one subscription covers an editor agent and an asynchronous one. The old Windsurf JetBrains plugin is deprecated; Devin now reaches JetBrains IDEs through the Agent Client Protocol. The Windsurf review on this site tracks the rename.

The practical difference: Cursor gives you more models, more surfaces and a larger ecosystem of people who use it. Devin Desktop gives you a tighter loop between an editor agent and a cloud agent on one bill, and a cheaper Pro seat.

What one developer pays

Cursor sells five individual plans. Free carries limited AI, agent and chat requests. Plus at $8/mo is the introductory tier and runs Grok models only. Premium at $30/mo gives 4x the Plus usage, the latest Grok models, cloud agents, code hosting and AI code reviews. Super at $100/mo is 15x Plus with priority model access at peak times, and Ultra is 50x Plus with the earliest access to new products and models. The allowance refreshes weekly, and the pricing page says prices exclude taxes.

Devin Desktop sells three. Free covers limited Devin usage with Devin Review and DeepWiki, for a single member. Pro adds a daily and weekly usage quota, pay-as-you-go on-demand credits and integrations. Max removes the daily cap and enlarges the weekly quota. Purchased on-demand credits roll over and never expire, which matters for a developer whose heavy weeks are rare.

For a developer who wants one editor and the best model for each job, Cursor Premium is the realistic entry, because Plus is Grok-only and Free is a trial. For a developer who wants an agent that can also run unattended in the cloud, Devin Pro is the cheaper seat, and the $10 gap buys a year's difference of $120. At the top, the two Ultra and Max plans cost the same, so the choice there is product, not price.

What a team pays

Cursor Teams starts at the Premium price per user a month with usage from 4x to 50x Plus depending on the seat tier, plus centralized billing, usage analytics, SSO and spend controls. Enterprise is a custom quote with audit logs and granular access controls. Devin Teams charges a flat rate per full seat, which includes Devin Desktop and a Pro-equivalent quota, and adds free flex seats that spend from a shared pool of on-demand credits but do not include the editor. Teams has an $80/mo minimum and supports up to 200 members; below two full seats the remaining balance becomes prepaid credits.

The table uses Cursor's lowest seat tier; a team that wants the 50x tier for every seat will pay more, and Cursor does not print that price. Devin's flex seats change the maths for a team where only some people code daily: a startup with four full-time engineers and six occasional contributors pays $160/mo for the four seats and funds the six from credits, where Cursor would want a seat for each person who opens the editor.

Usage limits are where the bill surprises people

Neither vendor sells unlimited agent use. Cursor expresses each plan as a multiple of Plus and refreshes the allowance weekly, so a quiet week does not bank credit for a busy one. Third-party models (Opus, GPT, Gemini) are not in the monthly price on Premium and above; they are billed at API list price on top, which is the line to watch if your agent runs on Anthropic or OpenAI models all day. Pinning Grok keeps the bill at the plan price.

Devin Desktop uses a daily quota plus a weekly quota on Pro, and only a weekly quota on Max. Extra usage is bought as on-demand credits at API rates. A developer who exhausts the daily quota on Pro waits or buys credits; the same developer on Max only hits the weekly ceiling. The difference matters for an engineer who runs a long agent session once or twice a week rather than a little every day.

Rule of thumb: a daily agent user on third-party models pays the plan plus a model bill on Cursor, and a plan plus credits on Devin. The vendor that costs less is the one whose included model you are happy to pin.

Agents and models

Cursor's agent runs in four places: inside the editor, in cloud agents that work in parallel for hours or days, in the terminal through the CLI, and in Slack and GitHub where it reviews pull requests. The model menu is the broadest in the category and includes Cursor's own models alongside OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and SpaceXAI.

Devin Desktop's agent runs in two places on one subscription: Devin Local in the editor, with subagents, worktrees and a permissions model, and Devin in the cloud for asynchronous tasks. Cascade remains as the legacy editor agent with MCP support, checkpoints and arena mode for comparing approaches in parallel. The docs are explicit that MCP servers attach to the legacy Cascade agent, so a team that depends on MCP tooling should check that the Devin Local workflow covers it before migrating.

If you want to compare either against a terminal-first agent, see Claude Code vs Cursor, and for the GitHub-native option, Cursor vs GitHub Copilot.

Winner by dimension

• Price for one developer: Devin Desktop, whose Pro seat undercuts Cursor Premium by $10 a month.
• Price for a team: Cursor, the cheaper seat and no minimum.
• Model choice: Cursor, with first-party, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and SpaceXAI models in one picker.
• Autonomous agent on the same bill: Devin Desktop, whose plans include Devin's cloud agents.
• Editor depth and ecosystem: Cursor, the larger user base and the most integrations.
• Predictable spend on included models: a tie; both refresh quotas weekly and both charge API rates above them.
• Stability of the product name: neither; both were renamed, repriced or acquired in 2026.

Who should pick which

Pick Cursor if you switch models often, work in a team that standardizes on one editor, or want the agent to follow you into the terminal, Slack and GitHub review. Budget Premium per person and watch third-party model spend. Students should check the Cursor student discount before paying list price.

Pick Windsurf, now Devin Desktop, if the cheaper Pro seat matters, if you want an editor agent and a cloud agent from one vendor, or if your team mixes full-time engineers with occasional contributors who can live on flex seats. Expect to re-learn some workflows after the rename, and verify MCP coverage under Devin Local.

Pick neither if you are happy in VS Code or a JetBrains IDE: GitHub Copilot at $10/mo and the Claude Code plugins cover most of what both editors do without a new editor. Our best AI coding assistants ranking and the best code editors guide cover those paths.

How we compared

Prices were read on Cursor's pricing page and on Devin's self-serve billing and Desktop docs on October 17, 2026; the team totals are our arithmetic on those list prices at Cursor's lowest seat tier and Devin's full-seat rate. The Toolradar count is the live AI coding ranking that day. This page reports published prices and documented features only, and it carries no sponsored placement.

FAQ

Is Windsurf still available in 2026?

Yes, under a new name. Cognition renamed the Windsurf editor Devin Desktop, and the windsurf.com addresses now redirect to devin.ai. The editor keeps Tab completions and the Cascade agent, adds Devin Local, and sells on Devin's plans: Free, Pro, Max and Teams, priced in the tables above.

Which is cheaper, Cursor or Windsurf?

For one developer, Windsurf as Devin Desktop: Pro is $20/mo against Cursor Premium at $30/mo, although Cursor's Grok-only Plus plan is $8/mo. For a team, Cursor: Teams starts at the Premium price per seat with no minimum, where Devin Teams charges more per full seat and has an $80/mo floor, so ten developers pay $300/mo against $400/mo.

Does Cursor include Claude and GPT models in the price?

Not on the current plans. Cursor's pricing page says Premium, Super and Ultra include the latest Grok models, and that third-party models are billed separately at API list price. A developer who pins Opus or GPT for agent work pays the plan plus that usage.

Is Cursor really owned by SpaceX?

Yes. Cursor's homepage links an August 2026 post stating that Cursor is now part of SpaceX, and the plan lineup was rebuilt around Grok models afterwards: Free, Plus, Premium, Super and Ultra, from $8/mo to $200/mo.

Can I use Windsurf or Cursor in a JetBrains IDE?

Not as editors, since both are standalone VS Code-style editors. The old Windsurf JetBrains plugin is deprecated; Devin instead runs inside IntelliJ, PyCharm and GoLand through the Agent Client Protocol with the Devin CLI. Cursor reaches other environments through its CLI rather than a JetBrains plugin.

What happens when I hit the usage limit?

On Cursor the allowance refreshes weekly, and third-party model usage is billed separately. On Devin Desktop, Pro has a daily and a weekly quota and Max only a weekly one; beyond them you buy on-demand credits at API rates, and purchased credits roll over and never expire.

Cite this: Devshot, "Cursor vs Windsurf 2026: Pricing, Agents, Verdict", October 2026.

The daily Devshot brief tracks renames, acquisitions and price changes across the AI editors before your invoice does. Subscribe at devshot.co.

Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.