Windsurf vs Claude Code: Devin Desktop or Anthropic's Agent?
November 3, 2026
Windsurf vs Claude Code is really an editor vs an agent: Windsurf, now called Devin Desktop, is a full IDE with agents built in, while Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent that you can run in a terminal, an IDE, a desktop app or the browser. If you want autocomplete, a file tree and agents in one window, pick Devin Desktop. If you want one agent that follows you across surfaces and runs on Claude models, pick Claude Code. And you don't have to choose, because Claude Code runs inside Devin Desktop.
First, the name. On June 2, 2026, Cognition renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop. Cognition had agreed to acquire Windsurf in July 2025. The announcement says the editor, extensions and workflows are "backwards-compatible with Windsurf and VSCode", and that plans and pricing stayed the same. People still search "Windsurf", so this post uses both names. They mean the same product.
What you need to know up front:
- Cascade is gone for new work. Devin Desktop's local agent is now Devin Local. Cascade is documented as legacy, and new conversations no longer start with it. Devin Desktop's changelog (v3.9.19, September 8, 2026) says "Cascade has been removed."
- Devin Desktop is the editor. Devin Cloud is the cloud agent. Cognition ships both under the Devin brand, and the Agent Command Center shows local and cloud agents together. See Devin vs Cursor for the cloud agent.
- The agent harnesses have converged. Both sides now ship subagents, plan modes, permission rules, sandboxing, MCP and skills. The real differences are surface, model choice and billing.
- You can use both. Anthropic's extension installs in Devin Desktop, and Devin Desktop can run Anthropic's agent through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP).
Quick comparison
| Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI IDE with an agent manager built in | A coding agent that plugs into your tools |
| Maker | Cognition | Anthropic |
| Where you use it | Its own desktop editor (Mac, Windows, Linux) | Terminal, VS Code and JetBrains extensions, desktop app, web |
| Primary local agent | Devin Local (Cascade is legacy) | Claude Code |
| Autocomplete as you type | Yes, Devin Desktop Tab | Not its focus; Anthropic describes it as an agentic coding tool |
| Models | SWE-2, Claude, GPT, Gemini and more, plus routing options | Anthropic's Claude models |
| Third-party agents | Yes, over the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) | Not applicable; it is the agent |
| Cloud work | Manages cloud Devin sessions next to local agents | Cloud sessions, by default on Anthropic-managed infrastructure |
| Billing model | On self-serve plans, quota billed at each model's token cost | Claude subscription or Anthropic Console account (or a third-party cloud provider) |
Devin Desktop vs Claude Code: editor first or agent first
This is the difference that decides most people.
Devin Desktop starts from the editor. Cognition's announcement calls it "a full IDE with an agent manager built in — not the other way around." You get your extensions, keybindings, an integrated terminal, and Devin Desktop Tab, an in-house autocomplete model that suggests edits before and after your cursor and can jump you to the next spot you'll probably edit. The Agent Command Center is where you manage every local and cloud agent in one view, and its October 23 update lets you view up to 8 sessions side by side.
Claude Code starts from the agent. Anthropic's overview describes it as an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and works with your development tools. It's a coding agent rather than an editor. You bring it to whatever you already use: the terminal, VS Code, a JetBrains IDE, the Claude desktop app, or claude.ai in a browser.
So the practical question is simple. Do you spend your day typing code, or describing work and reviewing diffs?
| Your day looks like… | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Writing code by hand, with AI filling in the next few lines | Devin Desktop, for Tab |
| Describing a change, then reviewing what the agent did | Claude Code, or Devin Local in Devin Desktop |
| Living in a terminal | Claude Code |
| Using JetBrains or plain VS Code, and not wanting to switch editors | Claude Code |
| Running several agents at once and watching them in one view | Devin Desktop's Agent Command Center |
Windsurf Cascade vs Claude Code: what replaced Cascade
A lot of "Windsurf Cascade vs Claude Code" comparisons are now out of date. Devin's own Cascade reference page marks it as legacy and says Devin Desktop "no longer starts new Cascade conversations and no longer opens old ones."
The replacement is Devin Local, an agent harness shared with the Devin CLI. Cognition's announcement says it was rewritten in Rust, supports the same capabilities and settings as Cascade, and is up to 30% more token-efficient. The Devin Local docs list these features:
- Modes: Code, Smart, Ask, Plan and Bypass Permissions
- Subagents that run in the foreground or background, defined as markdown files
- OS-level sandboxing with filesystem isolation and network allow and deny lists
- Git worktrees so a session works on its own checkout
- Rules, skills, plugins, MCP servers and hooks
Read that list next to Claude Code's and they look almost the same. Claude Code also has plan mode, subagents, hooks, skills, MCP, a sandboxed Bash tool, and permission modes. One detail matters if you're switching: per the permission modes docs, Claude Code v2.1.283 and later starts interactive terminal and VS Code sessions in auto mode, where a classifier model reviews actions instead of asking you each time (when auto mode is available to the session). You can switch to Manual mode whenever you want to approve every step.
The honest read: "is Windsurf better than Claude Code" no longer comes down to which agent is smarter at planning or editing. Both vendors built the same kind of harness. Pick on the surface you want and the models you want to pay for.
Where Devin Desktop is stronger
An editor and an agent in one window. If you like an IDE and don't want a separate tool, Devin Desktop gives you Tab, the agent panel, previews and the Agent Command Center without stitching anything together. Its getting-started guide lets you import VS Code or Cursor settings.
Model choice. The Devin Desktop models page lists Cognition's own SWE models alongside Claude and GPT models, and recommends Fusion, which pairs a frontier lead model with a cost-efficient sidekick. Cognition's Adaptive docs describe a model router that picks a model per task and can be switched on in the Devin Desktop settings. Claude Code is built around Anthropic's Claude models.
Other agents in the same panel. Devin Desktop supports the Agent Client Protocol. Its docs list Codex CLI, OpenCode, Junie, Gemini CLI and Anthropic's agent (which Cognition's docs call "Claude Agent") as agents you can plug in. They appear in the agent selector next to Devin Local.
Local and cloud agents in one view. The Agent Command Center manages local agents and cloud Devin sessions together. If your team already uses Devin in the cloud, the editor is where you watch both.
| You want… | Why Devin Desktop fits |
|---|---|
| Autocomplete plus agents in one app | Tab and Devin Local ship together |
| To compare models from several labs | SWE, Claude and GPT models, plus Fusion and Adaptive |
| One view for many agents, including third-party ones | Agent Command Center plus ACP |
| Your old Windsurf setup to keep working | Backwards-compatible, with plans and pricing unchanged |
Where Claude Code is stronger
It goes where you already work. Terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, a desktop app, and the web. You don't change editors to use it, and the surfaces share one Claude Code engine, so your CLAUDE.md files, settings and MCP servers work across all of them. That's the main reason people pick it over any AI IDE, and it's the same trade-off we cover in Claude Code vs Cursor.
It works from the command line. Because it's a CLI first, you can pipe output into it, as in Anthropic's own claude -p example, and the overview lists CI/CD among its integrations.
Cloud sessions from any surface. Claude Code on the web runs tasks in the cloud, by default on infrastructure Anthropic manages. You can kick off long-running work, run several tasks in parallel, and work on repos you don't have locally, as the web docs describe.
One vendor, one model family. If your team has standardized on Claude, Claude Code keeps the agent and the model under one company. Most surfaces need a Claude subscription or an Anthropic Console account, and the terminal CLI, VS Code and JetBrains also support third-party providers.
| You want… | Why Claude Code fits |
|---|---|
| To keep your current editor | Extensions for VS Code and JetBrains, plus a terminal CLI |
| An agent in scripts or CI | It's a CLI underneath |
| Long tasks that keep going after you close the laptop | Cloud sessions on the web and desktop app |
| Agent and model from the same company | Anthropic builds both |
Claude Code in Windsurf: can you use both?
Yes, in three ways. This is what most "Windsurf or Claude Code" threads miss.
- Install the Claude Code extension in Devin Desktop. Anthropic's VS Code extension docs say the extension "also installs in forks like Devin Desktop or Kiro." Search for "Claude Code" in the Extensions view, or install it from the Open VSX Registry.
- Run Anthropic's agent over ACP. Once it's in your ACP registry and enabled under Agents in Devin Settings, it appears in the same agent selector as Devin Local. Devin's docs say the agent binary must already be installed on your machine. One catch: Devin's docs say that with an external ACP agent, Devin Desktop's privacy policy and terms don't apply, and billing is directly between you and that agent's provider.
- Run the CLI in Devin Desktop's terminal. Claude Code is a terminal program, so it runs in any integrated terminal, including this one. Anthropic's changelog (v2.1.300, October 14, 2026) lists a fix for starting Claude Code in a "VS Code, Cursor or Devin Desktop integrated terminal".
You can also go the other way. Devin's docs describe an open-source Devin Handoff plugin that lets Claude Code hand a task to a cloud Devin session, packaging the repo, branch and uncommitted changes. That needs a Devin API key.
A sensible split for many developers: Devin Desktop as the editor, Tab for typing, and Claude Code (or Devin Local) for multi-file changes. Check each vendor's current plan page before you set up both. If you're comparing editors rather than agents, Cursor vs Windsurf covers that side.
Deciding in four questions
- Do you want autocomplete while you type? Devin Desktop, for Tab. Claude Code is an agentic coding tool rather than an autocomplete.
- Do you need to stay in JetBrains, plain VS Code, or the terminal? Claude Code.
- Do you want models from several labs in one tool? Devin Desktop.
- Do you want one agent across terminal, IDE, desktop and web? Claude Code.
If you answered yes to both sides, run Claude Code inside Devin Desktop. Nothing stops you.
Where Taku fits
Devin Desktop and Claude Code are for people who write and ship code. If that's you, the choice above is the one that matters, and Taku doesn't replace either one.
Many people reading about Claude Code never get past setup, though. They see a working Claude Code workflow on X or YouTube and stall at the terminal. Taku is an AI-native desktop workspace for that situation: you mirror an AI app, skill or workflow someone already got working, run it, remix it for your own files, and keep it. Taku is in Beta, and the Mac app is available now.
FAQ
Is Windsurf the same as Devin Desktop?
Yes. Cognition renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026. Devin's FAQ says "Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf," and existing plans and pricing carried over unchanged.
Is Windsurf better than Claude Code?
Neither is better across the board. Devin Desktop is better if you want an IDE with autocomplete, several model providers, and many agents in one view. Claude Code is better if you want one Claude-powered agent that works in your terminal, your current IDE, a desktop app and the browser.
What happened to Windsurf Cascade?
Cascade is now the legacy agent. Devin Desktop no longer starts new Cascade conversations, and new conversations start with Devin Local, the primary local agent. Cognition says Devin Local supports the same capabilities and settings as Cascade, and it supports subagents.
Can I use Claude Code in Windsurf?
Yes. Install the Claude Code extension in Devin Desktop (Anthropic's docs name it as a supported VS Code fork), enable Anthropic's agent through ACP, or run the claude CLI in the integrated terminal.
Devin Desktop vs Claude Code: which is cheaper?
It depends on usage, not list price. On self-serve plans, Devin Desktop bills quota and extra usage at the token cost of the model you pick. Claude Code's overview says most surfaces need a Claude subscription or an Anthropic Console account. Compare each vendor's current pricing page against how much agent work you actually run.
Do I need to use Devin to use Devin Desktop?
No. Devin's FAQ says you can continue using Devin Desktop with local-only agents.