Windsurf Alternatives: 6 Picks Now That Windsurf Is Devin Desktop (Nov 2026)

Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, made by Cognition. Six alternatives sorted by why you would leave, with prices checked 6 Nov 2026.

Chaitanya Giri 5 min read Comparisons
Title card on white. A pill reading Alternatives, the title Windsurf alternatives, the line 6 picks now that Windsurf is Devin Desktop and a Checked 6 Nov 2026 line. Six small tiles named Cursor, Munder Difflin, Zed, GitHub Copilot, Cline and Claude Code slide in under a grey tile labelled Windsurf.

Our view: Cursor is the closest Windsurf alternative, because it is the same kind of desktop editor with an agent built in, on macOS, Windows and Linux. Windsurf itself is now Devin Desktop, made by Cognition, and your plan carries over if you stay. Checked 6 Nov 2026.

Munder Difflin is free and open source: a desktop app that runs a team of AI agents for all kinds of knowledge work, coding included, on your own computer. More pages like this are in our Comparisons hub.

What is Windsurf now?

Windsurf is now called Devin Desktop. windsurf.com redirects to devin.ai/desktop, and that page, read 6 Nov 2026, says “Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf.” Cognition’s announcement is dated June 2, 2026.

The FAQ says Windsurf becomes Devin Desktop “with the Agent Command Center as the primary view”. The announcement calls Devin Local “the successor to Cascade” and kept legacy Cascade only “through July 1st”. Devin Desktop also runs other agents, naming “Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode”.

The changelog shows v3.11.238 on October 30, 2026, and the download page lists macOS, Windows and Linux. The surf command still ships “for backward compatibility”, per the FAQ. Muscle memory gets a grace period.

Animation. On a white background, a name badge hangs from a lanyard with a card that reads Windsurf. The card slides up out of the plastic holder and a new card slides in that reads Devin Desktop, June 2, 2026, Cognition. Tapping the badge slides the old card back in for a moment.
Windsurf became Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026, per Cognition's announcement and the Devin Desktop page, read 6 Nov 2026.

Why would you leave Windsurf?

You would leave because Windsurf is now an agent manager first, its JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode, or its plan limits do not fit. From Cognition’s own pages, read 6 Nov 2026:

  • The Agent Command Center is the default view. The full IDE “is still available”, says the FAQ.
  • The FAQ says “The Windsurf JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode” and “Newer JetBrains IDE releases can break the legacy plugin.”
  • The pricing page gives Free a “Light quota to code with agents” and “Limited model availability”. Pro is $20 a month, Max $200 a month, and Teams $80 a month plus $40 per full seat, on 6 Nov 2026.
  • Paid plans get an allowance that “refreshes automatically on a daily and weekly basis”; extra usage is “at API pricing”.

Our view: if you want the Agent Command Center, stay. If you wanted a quiet editor, look around.

Animation. On a white background, pancakes drop onto a plate one at a time, each with a small paper flag: Free $0, Pro $20 a month, Max $200 a month. A second plate slides in with a flag that reads Teams $80 a month plus $40 per full seat. Tapping the stack flips every flag to read Checked 6 Nov 2026.
Devin Desktop plans: Free $0, Pro $20, Max $200, and Teams $80 a month plus $40 per full seat, from devin.ai/pricing, read 6 Nov 2026.

What are the best Windsurf alternatives?

Six, ordered by the reason you are leaving. All pages were read on 6 Nov 2026.

Alternative What it is Where it runs Price or licence, 6 Nov 2026
Cursor Desktop editor with a coding agent macOS, Windows, Linux Free $0; Plus $8 a month, Grok models only; Premium $30 a month (6 Nov).
Munder Difflin A team of AI agents for knowledge work, coding included Your computer Free and open source.
Zed Open source code editor with AI macOS, Linux, Windows Mainly GPL 3.0 or later. Personal $0; Pro $10 a month (6 Nov).
GitHub Copilot GitHub’s assistant for VS Code and other editors VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Xcode and more Free $0; Pro $10 a month; Pro+ $39 a month (6 Nov).
Cline Open source coding agent VS Code, JetBrains, CLI, desktop Apache 2.0. Free for individuals; you pay for inference.
Claude Code Anthropic’s coding agent Terminal, IDE, desktop, browser All rights reserved. In Pro from $17 a month (6 Nov).
Animation. On a white background, the lid of a bento box lifts to show six compartments. A small card pops up in each one in turn: Cursor, Munder Difflin, Zed, GitHub Copilot, Cline, Claude Code. Tapping a card turns it over to show its price or licence line from the table.
Six Windsurf alternatives with their price or licence, from each vendor's pages, read 6 Nov 2026.

1. Cursor: if you want the same kind of editor

Cursor is the nearest swap. Its download page, read 6 Nov 2026, says “The Cursor desktop app is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux,” and lists version 3.29.

Its pricing page on 6 Nov 2026 lists Free at $0, Plus at $8 a month (“Only Grok models are available on this plan”) and Premium at $30 a month. Third party models are “billed separately by usage”. Our view: check which models you need first. More in Cursor alternatives and Cursor pricing.

2. Munder Difflin: if you want a team of agents, not one editor

Munder Difflin is what we make: a team of AI agents on your own computer, on engines such as Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI, with MCP servers, skills and plugins. Agents run while your computer runs. A Cloud Office and a mobile app are coming soon. See how to install and use Munder Difflin.

3. Zed: if you want an open source editor

Zed is the open source editor here. Its README, read 6 Nov 2026, says it is “licensed primarily under GPL-3.0-or-later” and runs on macOS, Linux and Windows. v1.27.0 shipped on 4 Nov 2026, per the GitHub API.

The pricing page lists Personal at “$0 forever” with “your API keys or external agents”, and Pro at $10 a month with “$5 of tokens included”, on 6 Nov 2026.

4. GitHub Copilot: if you work in JetBrains or several editors

We think GitHub Copilot fits best if the JetBrains plugin is why you are leaving. Its plans page, read 6 Nov 2026, lists VS Code, Visual Studio, Xcode, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim and Zed among its platforms.

On 6 Nov 2026, Free is $0 with “2,000 completions per month”, Pro is $10 a month with “Access to 3rd party agents (Claude Code and Codex)”, and Pro+ is $39 a month.

5. Cline: if you want to pay your model provider directly

Cline is the open source pick if you would rather pay for inference than a plan. Its README, read 6 Nov 2026, covers VS Code, JetBrains, a CLI and “a native app for macOS and Windows”. It is Apache 2.0; v4.1.26 shipped on 26 Oct 2026.

The pricing page, read the same day, says “Cline is free for individual developers” and “Pay only for AI inference on a usage basis”. Its FAQ lists the “JetBrains extension” under Enterprise. More in Cline alternatives.

6. Claude Code: if you want Anthropic’s own agent

Claude Code is Anthropic’s coding agent, and its overview, read 6 Nov 2026, says it is “Available in your terminal, IDE, desktop app, and browser.” The LICENSE file says “All rights reserved”, and v2.1.318 shipped on 4 Nov 2026.

Anthropic’s pricing page, read 6 Nov 2026, lists Claude Code in Pro at $17 a month billed annually or $20 monthly. Devin Desktop also runs “Claude Agent”, so this need not be a clean break. Costs are in what Claude Code costs.

Which one should you pick?

Our view: Cursor for the closest editor, if its models suit you. Munder Difflin for several agents on research, writing, ops and coding at once. Zed for an open source editor, Copilot for JetBrains, Cline to pay your provider directly, and Claude Code if you already pay Anthropic. If you wanted the Agent Command Center all along, stay on Devin Desktop.

FAQ

Is Windsurf now Devin Desktop?

Yes. The Devin Desktop page, read 6 Nov 2026, says "Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf." Cognition's announcement is dated June 2, 2026, and windsurf.com now redirects to devin.ai/desktop.

Does my Windsurf plan or price change?

No, says the Devin Desktop FAQ, read 6 Nov 2026: "Your current plan continues to work exactly as it does today. Pricing is unchanged." On that day the pricing page listed Free at $0, Pro at $20 a month and Max at $200 a month.

What happened to Cascade?

Devin Local replaced it. Cognition's announcement of June 2, 2026 calls Devin Local "the successor to Cascade" and kept the legacy Cascade agent "through July 1st".

Is Windsurf for JetBrains still supported?

It is in maintenance mode. The Devin Desktop FAQ, read 6 Nov 2026, warns that "Newer JetBrains IDE releases can break the legacy plugin" and points to Devin over ACP instead. GitHub Copilot and Cline both list JetBrains support.

What is the best free Windsurf alternative?

Our view: Zed, if you want an open source editor; its pricing page, read 6 Nov 2026, lists Personal at "$0 forever" with your own keys. Munder Difflin is free and open source too, if you want a team of agents on your computer. Cline's pricing page, read 6 Nov 2026, says it is free for individual developers, and you pay for inference.