Update, June 2026: Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, sold by Cognition. Existing installs updated in place; plan names and prices on this page follow the Devin lineup (Devin Pro at $20/month, Devin Max at $200/month, Devin Teams from $80/month plus $40 per full seat). The Cascade agent was replaced by Devin Local.
Quick Verdict
Cursor and Devin Desktop both target daily coding workflows, but they approach AI assistance differently. Cursor is a frontier-model aggregator, you pick from GPT, Claude, Gemini, or xAI models and pay for usage in dollar terms. Devin Desktop is a vertically integrated IDE built on Cognition’s SWE 1.7 model with a usage-quota system. Developers who want model flexibility and Max Mode long-context coding benefit most from Cursor. Developers who want a simpler subscription with a purpose-built software engineering model benefit from Devin Desktop.
Pricing
- Cursor Pro: $20/month or $16/month annually. Includes $20/month in API usage credit with on-demand continuation after depletion.
- Devin Pro: $20/month, with existing Windsurf Pro subscribers grandfathered at their previous lower rate. Includes a daily and weekly agent usage quota across Devin Desktop, Devin Cloud and Devin CLI; usage beyond the quota is billed at API pricing.
Devin Pro and Cursor Pro now start at the same $20 monthly rate. Cursor Pro’s annual option ($16/month) still lowers the effective monthly cost over a 12-month period.
Model Access
- Cursor Pro connects to OpenAI (GPT-4.1, o3-pro), Claude (Sonnet 4, Opus 4), Gemini (2.5 Pro), and xAI models. You choose the model per session. Max Mode enables up to 1M token context windows on eligible models.
- Devin Pro offers access to SWE 1.7, Cognition’s own coding-specific model, plus premium frontier models from Claude, GPT and Gemini, and open-source models like Kimi K2.5.
Cursor gives you more model variety. Devin Desktop’s SWE 1.7 is specifically trained on software engineering tasks and may outperform general frontier models on coding-specific benchmarks within its strengths.
Usage Limits
- Cursor Pro: Tab completions are unlimited. Agent requests are included up to the $20 monthly API usage budget, after which on-demand rates apply. Max Mode with 1M context adds to cost per request.
- Devin Pro: A daily and weekly agent usage quota shared across Devin Desktop, Devin Cloud and Devin CLI. Usage beyond the quota is billed at API pricing.
Cursor’s usage model rewards developers who can optimize their model selection and context size. Devin Desktop’s quota model is simpler to manage for developers who want a known monthly budget without tracking a credit ledger.
Who Should Choose Each
Choose Cursor for coding if you:
- Want to mix and match frontier models (GPT, Claude, Gemini) per task type
- Run long-context sessions requiring Max Mode (up to 1M tokens)
- Prefer dollar-denominated usage tracking with on-demand continuation
- Like the annual billing option to reduce effective monthly cost
Choose Devin Desktop for coding if you:
- Are drawn to a purpose-built software engineering model (SWE 1.7)
- Want to try Devin Free’s usage quota before committing to a paid plan
- Prefer a simple daily/weekly quota over dollar-denominated tracking
- Don’t mind usage beyond the quota being billed at API pricing
Both tools support unlimited Tab completions and broad AI-assisted code generation. The right choice depends on how much model flexibility matters versus the appeal of a vertically integrated engineering-first IDE. For a price-focused breakdown, see our Cursor Pro vs Devin Pro comparison, or explore all coding-oriented plans at best AI plans for coding. For a specific plan-level comparison at different price points, see Cursor Pro+ vs Devin Pro.