GILD verdict
Choose Cursor when you want SSO on a self-serve team plan and one first-party agent.
Choose Devin Desktop when you want to run Cognition's agents, third-party agents over ACP and Devin cloud sessions from one editor. Both ask engineers to move into a new editor, so admin controls and agent choice decide it. Pilot both on accepted, reviewed changes and compare spend at the plan you would buy.
Cursor is the self-serve buy, and Devin Desktop the multi-agent one. Cursor includes SSO on its self-serve Teams plan and centers its own agent. Devin Desktop puts SSO on Enterprise for new plans and runs Cognition's agents next to third-party ones and Devin cloud sessions. Both are desktop editors derived from VS Code, and Devin Desktop is the name Windsurf took on June 2, 2026.
What teams report
Switched 1
Swift-focused startup
TechCrunch reported on Jun 3, 2025 that Mannak, a Windsurf customer since late 2024, switched to Cursor to work with Claude 4 after Anthropic limited Windsurf's direct access to Claude models.
“While Mannak has been a Windsurf customer since late 2024, he’s switched to using Cursor in recent weeks so that he can vibe code more easily with Claude 4.”
Ronald Mannak, FounderTechCrunch, , reportSecond-hand, as TechCrunch reported it
Run both 3
Brex
Brex buys a few seats of several tools and lets employees pick between Cursor, Windsurf and Claude Code credits, switching easily, and reads usage trends before renewals (Jan 17, 2026).
“You can pick, you know, between like Cursor, Windsurf, Cloud Code, Credits, like, and you can basically craft your stack to your preference and easily switch between them.”
James Reggio, Chief technology officer, BrexLatent Space, , around 21:15 Salesforce
Salesforce runs Cursor and Windsurf side by side for code and test generation, with Claude Code for automation and scripting, and reports code in production up 30% (Dec 16, 2025).
“Cursor and Windsurf for AI-assisted code and tests generation Claude Code a CLI-based tool for automation and scripting workflows…”
Darryn Dieken, Chief Availability Officer, SalesforceSalesforce Engineering, , write-up Indeed
In the talk DX published in June 2026, Indeed's roughly 2,000 engineers worked mostly in Claude Code, with a little Cursor and some Windsurf, often using several tools at once.
“And if you’re interested, our breakdown rate, we’re mostly Claude Code, a little bit Cursor, some Windsurf, and then down at the bottom, Amp. If you actually add up these percentages, it’s definitely more than 100%. So we also see that our devs are using multiple tools at the same time.”
Michael Redding, Principal Product Manager, IndeedDX Engineering Enablement podcast, , episode
Choosing between Cursor and Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
Choose Cursor if
- You want SAML or OIDC SSO on a self-serve team plan without an Enterprise contract.
- You want pull request review from the same vendor, through Bugbot.
- Engineers want one first-party agent across the editor, a CLI, and cloud agents.
Choose Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) if
- Engineers want to run Cognition's Devin Local next to ACP agents such as Codex CLI or Claude Agent in one editor.
- You plan to hand larger tasks to Devin cloud sessions and review them from the editor.
- You want one quota to cover the editor, Devin CLI, and Devin cloud sessions, which Pro, Max, and Teams full seats share.
Side by side
| Dimension | Cursor | Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Its own desktop editor built on the VS Code codebase, a CLI, and cloud agents4 | A VS Code-derived desktop editor for macOS, Windows, and Linux, with Devin cloud sessions in its Agent Command Center1215 |
| Individual priceList prices in US dollars. Included usage differs by plan and is not directly comparable. | Premium: US$30 per month in the X Subscription Cursor announced Oct 12, 2026; Pro at US$20 is a legacy plan closed to new customers12 | Pro: US$20 per month10 |
| Team price | Teams seats at US$30 (Premium), US$100 (Super), or US$200 (Ultra) per user per month in the X Subscription Cursor announced Oct 12, 2026; Standard US$40 and Premium US$120 seats apply only to teams created before it1 | Teams: US$40 per month per full seat, with a US$80 monthly minimum and up to 200 users10 |
| Beyond the plan | Prepaid credit: third-party models at API list price, plus US$0.25 per million tokens on Teams, and Cursor models past the weekly pool at listed rates; legacy plans bill on-demand usage in arrears3 | Extra usage at API list prices once the quota runs out (daily and weekly on Pro and Teams, weekly only on Max)11 |
| Agents | Cursor's own agent, in the editor, the CLI, and cloud agents | Devin Local, third-party agents over ACP, and Devin cloud sessions131415 |
| Permissions | Terminal commands and MCP tool calls need approval by default5 | Devin Local uses allow, ask, and deny rules and asks before any MCP tool call by default; Enterprise admins can force a sandbox1317 |
| Project instructions | Project rules in .cursor/rules, or AGENTS.md6 | Rules in .devin/rules (legacy .windsurf/rules still read), or AGENTS.md; .cursor/rules can be imported |
| SSO | SAML/OIDC SSO on Teams | Enterprise only for new plans9 |
| Review | Bugbot reviews pull requests7 | Quick Review checks local Devin Local changes; pull request review is Devin Review, sold separately16 |
What practitioners report, side by side
Each product's figures come from its own practitioners, for the group you pick.
Overall signal
All practitioners rate Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) +17, 11 points above Cursor at +6. Most of the gap is in complaints, with 41 of Cursor's 117 sources negative against 15 of Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)'s 67.
The score counts the authors from all practitioners that take a side, one vote each with their latest view, and is how far positive votes lead negative ones, per 100 votes, so Cursor's +6 rests on votes split 48 positive, 27 mixed and 41 negative and Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)'s +17 on 26, 22 and 15.
A lead of a fifth of the votes reads positive and a lead of half strong positive, with the same lines below zero. The dots show each source, positive, mixed, negative. Use a task pilot to measure accepted work and review time.
Footprint on the Agentic Software Development stack
Both cover the same 12 layers at the same depth. Coverage is each product's placement on this stack, as its product page shows it. Core is a job the product owns; Supports and Touches are jobs it helps with. Coverage says nothing about how well a product does them.
| Stage | Cursor | Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) |
|---|---|---|
| Plan1 layer | Supports 1 | Supports 1 |
| Build4 layers | Core 3, Supports 1 | Core 3, Supports 1 |
| Validate4 layers | Supports 3, Touches 1 | Supports 3, Touches 1 |
| Ship2 layers | Touches 2 | Touches 2 |
| Operate1 layer | Touches 1 | Touches 1 |
Show all 12 layers
| Layer | Cursor | Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | ||
| Work planning | Supports | Supports |
| Build | ||
| Codebase context | Core | Core |
| Coding | Core | Core |
| Agent runtime | Core | Core |
| Tool execution | Supports | Supports |
| Validate | ||
| Debugging | Supports | Supports |
| Testing | Supports | Supports |
| Code review | Supports | Supports |
| Application security | Touches | Touches |
| Ship | ||
| Source control | Touches | Touches |
| CI/CD | Touches | Touches |
| Operate | ||
| Observability | Touches | Touches |
What practitioners praise
Among all practitioners, Cursor alone has four praise themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Model Choice and Codebase Understanding lead, at 20 of 25 and 9 of 15. Of the three themes both carry, Tab Completion differs most. It is praised in 10 of the 13 Cursor sources that discuss it, against 5 of 11 for Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf). Codebase Context and Editor Experience reach 5 sources from 3 authors only for Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf), at 15 of 17 and 10 of 14. Cursor needs a pilot on the same repository tasks before you choose on either.
| Praised for | Cursor | Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) |
|---|---|---|
| Tab Completion | 10 of 13 | 5 of 11 |
| Agent Execution | 9 of 12 | 12 of 13 |
| Value for Money | 7 of 13 | 5 of 8 |
| Model Choice | 20 of 25 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Codebase Understanding | 9 of 15 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Cloud Agents | 8 of 9 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Speed | 8 of 10 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Codebase Context | Not a theme in its sources | 15 of 17 |
| Editor Experience | Not a theme in its sources | 10 of 14 |
Each count is the sources that praise a theme, or raise it as a concern, out of those that discuss it. A row pairs the two products when both carry a theme under the same or an equivalent name.
A count ending in "so far" has under 5 sources from 3 authors among all practitioners. "Not a theme in its sources" means GILD found no theme of that name in that product's sources.
What practitioners raise as concerns
Cursor's sources raise Needs Close Steering more often than Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)'s. It is raised in 10 of the 12 Cursor sources that discuss it, against 3 of 8 for Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf). Cursor alone has three concern themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Inconsistent Quality and Reliability & Performance lead, at 14 of 15 and 12 of 12. Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) alone has three concern themes that reach 5 sources from 3 authors. Agent & Editor Reliability and Vendor Direction lead, at 10 of 10 and 9 of 12.
| Raised as a concern | Cursor | Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) |
|---|---|---|
| Usage / Cost | 25 of 35 | 9 of 13 |
| Requires Strong Review | 14 of 19 | 18 of 19 |
| Needs Close Steering | 10 of 12 | 3 of 8 |
| Inconsistent Quality | 14 of 15 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Reliability & Performance | 12 of 12 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Editor Lock-in | 7 of 11 | Not a theme in its sources |
| Agent & Editor Reliability | Not a theme in its sources | 10 of 10 |
| Vendor Direction | Not a theme in its sources | 9 of 12 |
| Context Management | Not a theme in its sources | 6 of 9 |
17 sources
- Cursor pricing
- Cursor forum: Introducing The X Subscription, staff announcement (Oct 12, 2026)
- Cursor docs: Models & pricing
- Cursor docs: VS Code migration
- Cursor docs: Agent security
- Cursor docs: Rules
- Cursor docs: Bugbot
- Devin Desktop docs: FAQ on the move from Windsurf
- Devin Desktop docs: SSO and SCIM
- Devin docs: Self-serve plans
- Devin Desktop docs: Quota-based usage
- Devin Desktop docs: Install
- Devin Desktop docs: Devin Local agent
- Devin Desktop docs: Agent Client Protocol
- Devin Desktop docs: Devin in Devin Desktop
- Devin Desktop docs: Quick Review
- Devin Desktop docs: Admin controls reference