Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Windsurf are the three names most developers reach for when picking an AI coding assistant, but one honest note before anything else: Windsurf technically doesn't exist under that name anymore. Cognition, the company behind the Devin agent, rebranded it to Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026, and its Cascade engine is being phased out in favor of a new local agent — so what follows is a real test of the product formerly known as Windsurf, under its current name, plus a note on what actually changed. I used all three across three real projects over a month — a Next.js frontend, a Python data pipeline, and cleanup work on an existing React codebase — switching primary tools each week.
Ownership churn is a running theme in this category right now. Cursor itself is mid-acquisition by SpaceX, announced in June 2026 and expected to close later this year, which is worth knowing before committing a team workflow to any of these three long-term.
Cursor: still the most complete editor, with an acquisition hanging over it
Cursor remains a full VS Code fork with AI woven into the editor core rather than bolted on as an extension, and pricing sits at Free (limited), Pro at $20 a month, and Business at $40 per user per month. Composer, its multi-file editing mode, and Agent mode for background tasks were the standout features in my testing — describing a feature change across routes, controllers, and tests in one pass and having it actually land coherently was genuinely impressive, and native MCP support meant connecting external tools didn't require workarounds.
The honest complication: SpaceX announced its acquisition of Anysphere, Cursor's parent company, in June 2026, reportedly placing the product under its xAI subsidiary once the deal closes. Nothing about the day-to-day product changed during my testing, but anyone building a long-term team workflow around Cursor right now is making that bet with a real ownership transition still pending. Performance on genuinely large codebases also lagged behind plain VS Code at times, and switching away from Cursor's editor entirely — for JetBrains or Vim users — simply isn't an option.
GitHub Copilot: cheapest entry point, now billed by the token
Copilot remains the most accessible of the three to add to an existing setup, since it's a plugin rather than a standalone editor, working across VS Code, JetBrains, and beyond. Pricing runs Free, Pro at $10 a month, Pro+ at $39, and Business at $19 per seat — genuinely half of Cursor's entry price. The bigger news this year: GitHub moved from flat premium-request billing to token-metered AI Credits on June 1, 2026, where code completions stay unlimited but chat, agent mode, and code review now draw from a monthly credit pool that doesn't roll over.
For lightweight, completion-focused use, this change barely registers — that use case remains unlimited on every paid plan. But developers leaning on agent mode or heavy chat sessions reported burning through a month's credit allotment in a single day of intense use, which makes Copilot's effective cost harder to predict than either competitor's flat pricing. If you mainly want strong autocomplete inside an editor you already use, this is still the lowest-friction choice; if you're running agentic workflows daily, budget for real variance in your bill.
Windsurf, now Devin Desktop: same tool, new name, and a foundational shift underway
The editor formerly known as Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, following Cognition's acquisition of the Codeium team and its June 2026 rebrand. Pricing now matches Cursor almost exactly — Free, Pro at $20 a month, a new Max tier at $200, and Teams at $80 plus $40 per seat — a real change from Windsurf's earlier $15 price advantage, which is gone entirely. The bigger shift is under the hood: Cascade, the agent engine Windsurf built its reputation on, reached end-of-life on July 1, 2026, replaced by a new local agent called Devin Local, with cloud-based Devin access bundled starting at the Pro tier.
In practice, the multi-file refactoring and codebase-wide pattern changes were genuinely capable when they worked, and the Agent Command Center's unified view of local and cloud agents was a real organizational improvement over juggling separate tools. But this is a product mid-transition — documentation lagged behind the actual feature set during my testing, and the shift from Cascade to Devin Local introduces real uncertainty about whether workflows built around the old agent will carry over cleanly. If stability matters more than being on the frontier, this is the riskiest of the three to commit to right now.
Cursor vs GitHub Copilot vs Windsurf (Devin Desktop)
| Category | Cursor | GitHub Copilot | Windsurf / Devin Desktop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $20/mo (Pro), $40/seat (Business) | $10/mo (Pro), $39/mo (Pro+), $19/seat (Business) | $20/mo (Pro), $200/mo (Max) |
| Billing model | Flat monthly with request limits | Token-metered AI Credits (since June 2026) | Daily/weekly usage quotas |
| Editor type | Standalone VS Code fork | Plugin for existing editors | Standalone VS Code fork |
| Current stability | Pending SpaceX acquisition | Stable, recent billing change | Mid-rebrand, core agent being replaced |
| Best for | Developers wanting the most complete standalone editor | Developers who want to keep their existing editor | Developers comfortable with frontier tools and some instability |
Which one should you actually use?
If you want the most complete AI-native editing experience and don't mind an acquisition unfolding in the background, Cursor remains the most polished of the three in daily use. If you'd rather keep your current editor and want the most predictable entry price, GitHub Copilot is still the easiest on-ramp, as long as you understand the new token-based billing before leaning hard on agent mode. And if you're comfortable riding the frontier and tolerating some rough edges during a real product transition, Devin Desktop's ambition is genuine — just go in knowing you're testing a tool that's still finding its footing under a new name and a new underlying agent. For a fuller technical breakdown of what changed in the Windsurf-to-Devin-Desktop transition, this independent review tracking the rebrand is a useful reference before committing a team to it.
FAQ
Is Windsurf still called Windsurf?
No. Cognition rebranded it to Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026, with the same ownership and largely the same pricing, but a new default local agent replacing the original Cascade engine.
Is Cursor being acquired?
Yes. SpaceX announced its acquisition of Anysphere, Cursor's parent company, in June 2026, with the deal reportedly placing Cursor under its xAI subsidiary once it closes.
Did GitHub Copilot get more expensive?
Sticker prices stayed the same, but the June 2026 shift to token-metered AI Credits means agent-heavy and chat-heavy usage can cost meaningfully more in practice than the flat pricing suggests, even though unlimited code completions didn't change.
Which of these three works with editors other than its own?
GitHub Copilot is the only one built as a plugin for existing editors like VS Code and JetBrains; Cursor and Devin Desktop are both standalone forks of VS Code that require switching editors entirely.
Is Devin Desktop still worth trying despite the recent changes?
It depends on your risk tolerance — the multi-file agent capabilities are genuinely strong, but documentation and stability lagged during the Cascade-to-Devin-Local transition, making it a better fit for developers comfortable with some instability.