The Windsurf Editor
Manage fleets of local and cloud AI agents from one IDE
If you're a Mac-using developer who juggles multiple AI agents daily, Devin Desktop is the most complete command center available. The free tier is just a teaser—Pro at $20/month is where it gets real—but the model flexibility and cloud handoff are worth it. Skip it if you're on Windows or prefer a lightweight web tool.
Verified 5d ago · liveness 82/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/the-windsurf-editor
- Developers who want to run multiple AI agents concurrently for complex, multi-file coding tasks
- Teams collaborating on large codebases with centralized agent management and shared context
- Power users needing high quota limits and access to frontier models for heavy daily use
- Developers who prefer an IDE with integrated agent orchestration over separate tools
- Complete beginners without prior IDE experience who need guided onboarding
- Users who prefer fully manual coding without AI assistance or suggestions
- Non-developers seeking no-code or low-code solutions for app building
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Skip Devin Desktop if you're on Windows or Linux (macOS-only), or if you prefer a lightweight web-based tool without the overhead of a full IDE.
Pro at $20/mo is required for frontier models and cloud agents; the free tier only gives you SWE-1.7.
Devin Desktop's pricing fits power users and teams who need multi-agent orchestration and frontier model access; at $20/mo Pro it's competitive with Cursor's Pro, but the team tier is pricier than GitHub Copilot's business plan.
In short
The Windsurf Editor — Manage fleets of local and cloud AI agents from one IDE. Best for Developers who want to run multiple AI agents concurrently for complex, multi-file coding tasks, Teams collaborating on large codebases with centralized agent management and shared context, Power users needing high quota limits and access to frontier models for heavy daily use. Free to start; paid plans from $20/mo.
What's new in The Windsurf Editor
Checked 5 days agoAcross the latest 5 updates: 3 feature updates, 1 launch and 1 changelog entry.
Gemini 3.7 Flash now available in Devin
Gemini 3.7 Flash is live in Devin Desktop and CLI, matching Claude Sonnet 5 performance at less than half the cost, with a 50% discount for two weeks.
Side chats in sessions
Start side conversations anchored to any session point, with panel UI and stop-in-flight responses.
Stacked PRs introduced in Devin
Devin breaks large tasks into stacks of small, reviewable PRs, handling rebasing, conflict resolution, and CI verification.
Kimi K3 now available in Devin
Kimi K3 is live in Devin Desktop and CLI, optimized for long-horizon agentic coding, approaching frontier-level FrontierCode 1.1 performance.
Devin Outposts: run Devin on any machine
Devin Outposts launches, allowing Devin to run on any machine, extending its deployment flexibility.
What people actually say about The Windsurf Editor — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
22 mentions across 3 sources (Hacker News, Product Hunt, Lemmy) · researched Aug 19, 2026.
- +Excellent codebase understanding with automatic context retention
- +Fast performance when executing multi-file agent tasks
- +Multi-agent orchestration via Agent Command Center is powerful
- +Model-agnostic support via Agent Client Protocol (ACP)
- +Free tier includes unlimited access to SWE-1.7 model
- −macOS-only — no Windows or Linux support
- −Cannot paste images in chat for UI reproduction
- −Cannot use URLs as context/documentation
- −Some users find extensions on JetBrains/Sublime better
- −Pricing unclear for Pro and Max tiers beyond freemium
- • Usage-based fees for cloud agents may exceed subscription cost
- • Mac-only might require hardware investment if not already on Mac
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is The Windsurf Editor? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: August 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Agent Command Center for managing local and cloud agents
- Sessions Board to track agent statuses
- Autoresearch mode for autonomous code exploration
- Supercomplete predicts next edits and thoughts
- Fast Context for instant codebase retrieval
- Full IDE with syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and debugging
- Support for multiple AI models via Agent Client Protocol (ACP)
- Kimi K3, Claude Opus 5, GPT-5.6, Claude Fable 5 model support
- Gemini 3.7 Flash and Grok 4.6 available in Devin
- SWE 1.7 model for fast code generation (free)
- Cloud agents (Devin Cloud) for offloaded computation
- Spaces for shared context and Git worktrees across agents
- Devin Review with automated security reviews
- Plan mode to view and implement plans
- Side chats anchored to session points
About The Windsurf Editor
Cognition's Windsurf Editor, now branded as Devin Desktop, is a desktop IDE built around agent orchestration. Instead of supervising a single chat assistant, you can dispatch multiple local or cloud coding agents from an Agent Command Center while continuing to write code in a full-fledged editor with syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and debugging tools. A Sessions Board tracks every agent's status, and Spaces let you share context and Git worktrees across agents. Fast Context retrieves exact files and lines in milliseconds, while Supercomplete predicts your next thought, not just your next edit. Review is built in so you can inspect every agent diff before pushing. The tool is model-agnostic thanks to the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), which means you can work across models and agents—Devin Local, Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode, Cascade, and more. The latest updates have added support for Kimi K3, Claude Opus 5, GPT-5.6, Gemini 3.7 Flash, Grok 4.6, and the SWE 1.7 model, keeping you on the frontier of coding AI. Free users get unlimited access to SWE-1.7, the fastest coding model, while Pro and Max plans unlock frontier models and cloud agents. Devin Desktop is designed for developers who want to manage a team of agents from one place, plan, delegate, review, and ship without leaving the editor. Recent additions include side chats anchored to any session point, and stacked PRs that break large tasks into small, reviewable pull requests—handling rebasing, conflict resolution, and CI verification. Devin Outposts extends deployment flexibility, letting Devin run on any machine. It's a strong competitor to Cursor and GitHub Copilot, but it goes further with multi-agent orchestration and a model-agnostic approach. Currently macOS-only, the IDE is a powerful addition to any Mac-based developer's workflow, especially those working on complex, multi-file tasks.
Behind the Verdict
Devin Desktop stands out by treating AI agents as a team you manage, not just a chat interface. The Agent Command Center and Sessions Board give you a bird's-eye view of every local and cloud agent, which is a genuine leap over single-agent tools like Cursor or GitHub Copilot. The model-agnostic approach via ACP means you're not locked into one vendor's LLM, and the recent additions of Gemini 3.7 Flash, Grok 4.6, Kimi K3, and Claude Opus 5 (with a 50% discount for two weeks on Gemini) show a commitment to staying current. The free tier's unlimited SWE-1.7 is a generous entry point, but the real power—frontier models, cloud agents, and higher quotas—sits behind the $20/mo Pro tier. Stacked PRs and side chats are thoughtful workflow additions that reduce friction in code review and context switching. However, the macOS-only limitation is a dealbreaker for Windows or Linux teams, and the pricing can escalate quickly with team seats. It's best for developers who thrive on parallel agent workflows and need deep IDE integration, but it's overkill for casual coders or those who prefer a minimal editor.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas The Windsurf Editor actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You're working on a complex refactor and need to explore multiple approaches simultaneously. Using Devin Desktop, you spin up three local agents via ACP: one to analyze the codebase, one to draft a migration plan, and one to prototype the new implementation. You monitor their progress on the Sessions Board, then review and merge their diffs.
Outcome: You evaluate three solutions in parallel without context switching, saving hours and making an informed decision.
Your team needs to ship a large feature. You set up shared Spaces with Git worktrees, assign agents to different modules, and use Stacked PRs to break the work into reviewable chunks. Devin Review handles security checks automatically.
Outcome: The team ships faster with parallel agent work, and code quality is maintained through automated review and small PRs.
You need to run baseline training experiments across multiple configurations. You use the Agent Command Center to dispatch agents that each set up and run a different experiment, then aggregate results from the Sessions Board.
Outcome: You parallelize experiment runs, cutting total wall-clock time significantly and freeing you to analyze results.
Use Cases
- Delegate code writing and debugging to agents while you focus on architecture.
- Run multiple agents in parallel to explore different approaches to a problem.
- Automate pull request reviews and security checks with agent-based evaluation.
- Set up automated training baseline experiments using agent command center.
- Integrate with Git providers for seamless agent-assisted development workflows.
Models Under the Hood
as of 2026-08-19
Limitations
- Free plan has a light quota to code with agents and limited model availability.
- Concurrent sessions are limited on lower tiers (up to 10 on Pro and Max).
- Full model availability and access to cloud agents require paid plans.
- Desktop app is available for macOS.
as of 2026-08-19
Verification history
We have re-verified The Windsurf Editor 6 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published The Windsurf Editor tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free
$0/mo
Ideal for
Casual developers or hobbyists who want to try agent-based coding without cost; you get unlimited SWE-1.7 and basic IDE features.
What this tier adds
Free entry point with unlimited SWE-1.7 but no frontier models or cloud agents; quota for coding with agents is light.
Pro
$20/mo
Ideal for
Individual developers who need frontier models and cloud agents for daily heavy use; at $20/mo it's for serious coding.
What this tier adds
Adds frontier models (Claude Opus 5, Kimi K3, etc.), cloud agents, higher quotas, and Devin Review with automated security.
Teams
$80/mo + $40/mo per full dev seat
Ideal for
Small to medium teams that need centralized agent management, shared Spaces, and admin controls; price is $80/mo + $40/mo per dev seat.
What this tier adds
Adds centralized management, shared Spaces, Git worktrees, and admin controls for collaboration.
Max
$200/mo
Ideal for
Power users and large teams needing the highest quota limits, all models, and priority access; at $200/mo it's for intensive use.
What this tier adds
Top tier with highest quotas, all frontier models and cloud agents, and early access to new features.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where The Windsurf Editor's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Devin Desktop's pricing fits power users and teams who need multi-agent orchestration and frontier model access; at $20/mo Pro it's competitive with Cursor's Pro, but the team tier is pricier than GitHub Copilot's business plan.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of The Windsurf Editor — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
For a solo developer, you can be up and running in under 10 minutes: download, install, sign in, and start a session with SWE-1.7. For teams, allow 30-60 minutes to configure Spaces, set up Git integrations, and assign roles.
Switching to or from The Windsurf Editor
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From VS Code: Import your settings, extensions, and keybindings from VS Code to get a familiar editor experience.
- →From Cursor: Use the built-in import to bring over your project settings and start using agents immediately.
- ↗To VS Code: Export your settings and keybindings, or just continue using the editor without agents.
- ↗To Cursor: Copy your project context and agents can be recreated manually.
Integrations
Resources & Guides
Tutorials & Learning
Official links
Tools that pair well with The Windsurf Editor
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside The Windsurf Editor, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Windsurf
Orchestrate fleets of local and cloud coding agents from one AI-native IDE.
OpenHands
Open-source platform for autonomous cloud coding agents that fix bugs, review PRs, and automate workflows.
Ellipsis
Cloud coding agents defined as YAML in your GitHub repo — deploy with a merge, governed by spend caps and sandboxes.
Featured Head-to-Head Comparisons
The Windsurf Editor vs Locus Robotics
Locus Robotics and Windsurf Editor serve completely different domains: physical warehouse automation vs. AI-powered software development. For a 3PL warehouse seeking 2-3x productivity gains, Locus Robotics with its Locus Array and RaaS model is a proven investment. For a developer team wanting to offload coding to multiple concurrent agents, Windsurf Editor (Devin Desktop) offers cutting-edge features like agentic MapReduce and Claude Fable 5 at a per-seat price. Choose based entirely on your problem domain—there is no overlap.
The Windsurf Editor vs Truleo
Truleo and Windsurf Editor serve completely different markets—law enforcement vs. software development. Truleo is essential for police agencies needing to unify RMS, CAD, jail calls, and BWC data into automated leads; it has no direct competitor in this niche. Windsurf Editor is a powerful IDE for developers who want to orchestrate multiple AI coding agents (local and cloud) from one interface, with recent model additions like Claude Fable 5 and security review features. Choose based on your domain: public safety vs. software engineering.
The Windsurf Editor vs Presto Voice
Presto Voice and Windsurf Editor serve entirely different domains: Presto is for QSR drive-thru voice automation, while Windsurf is a developer IDE for agentic coding. Choose Presto if you run a multi-location drive-thru chain seeking revenue lift; choose Windsurf if you're a developer wanting to manage fleets of AI coding agents. There's no overlap — your decision depends purely on your industry.
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