Windsurf · now Devin Desktop by Cognition

What Is Windsurf? Now Devin Desktop, Explained

Last verified: June 16, 2026  ·  Format: Breakdown

Heads up before you search: the AI code editor you know as Windsurf has been renamed Devin Desktop, built by Cognition. It arrives as an over-the-air update, and your existing plan, pricing, extensions, settings, and in-progress work carry over automatically. Only the name and branding changed. Some menus still read "Windsurf," and the JetBrains plugin is still called "Windsurf for JetBrains." This article uses both names so it is clear what you are actually using.

So what is Windsurf? It is an AI code editor that has now been rebranded to Devin Desktop, built by Cognition. In practice that means a full IDE with an agent called Cascade at the center: you describe a change in plain language, the editor reads the relevant files, plans the work, edits across several locations, runs commands in the terminal, and shows you what it did so you can accept it or roll it back. You stay in the review seat the whole time.

The name change is recent, so you will see both labels in the wild, and this breakdown uses both to keep things clear. The pricing and model figures below are reported by the vendor and were checked on June 16, 2026, so always confirm the current numbers on the official pricing page before you pay.

What Is Windsurf (Now Devin Desktop)

The short answer to what is Windsurf is this: it is an AI code editor, sometimes described as an agentic IDE. It is a full development environment with the features you expect from an editor, including autocomplete, syntax highlighting, and debugging, paired with an Agent Command Center for managing AI agents that run both locally and in the cloud. At the heart of it is Cascade, a built-in agent you can hand a task to in natural language.

The distinction worth drawing is between autocomplete and agency. Plenty of tools suggest the next line of code as you type, and Windsurf does that too through inline edits and Tab completions. Its larger ambition is the agent: a system you can hand a whole task to, not just a line. You describe what you want, and instead of returning a snippet to paste, Cascade reads the codebase, makes the changes, and reports back for your review.

The Agent Command Center wraps that workflow in two surfaces. Spaces group related work, and a Kanban board lets you track agents the way you would track tasks, so a local agent editing files and a cloud agent running a longer job both show up in one place. Because Windsurf supports the Model Context Protocol, Cascade can connect to external tools and data sources through a shared open standard rather than one-off integrations. For where Windsurf sits among other developer AI tools, see the AI Tools Hub.

The Devin Desktop Rebrand, Explained

If you set out to learn about "Windsurf" and landed somewhere called Devin Desktop, you are in the right place. The product was renamed Devin Desktop and is now built by Cognition, the company behind the Devin coding agent. The change is primarily one of name and branding, not a new product you have to relearn.

What stays the same matters more than what changes. The rebrand arrives as an over-the-air update to the existing app, and your plans, pricing, extensions, settings, and in-progress work all migrate automatically. The editor you opened yesterday is the editor you open today, with a different label on it.

A few practical wrinkles are worth knowing so the naming does not trip you up. Legacy "Windsurf" labels still appear in some menus, so seeing the old name inside the app is expected rather than a sign something is wrong. The JetBrains integration also keeps its old name and is still called "Windsurf for JetBrains." And the in-house coding model, SWE-1.6, is described as Devin's model, reflecting the Cognition lineage. None of this requires action from you; it is context so you can match what you read here to what you see on screen.

Core Features at a Glance

The agent is the headline, but Windsurf is several connected pieces. Here is what each one does and why it matters in day-to-day work.

A full code editor

Before any AI enters the picture, Windsurf is a complete IDE. You get autocomplete, syntax highlighting, and debugging, the table stakes of a modern editor, plus fast inline edits and Tab completions that finish what you are typing. The point is that the AI layer sits on top of a real editor, not the other way around.

Cascade, the built-in agent

Cascade is the agent at the center of Windsurf. You open it with Cmd/Ctrl+L, describe a task, and it plans the work, edits files, runs terminal commands, and works through multi-step changes, pausing for your review. The next section breaks Cascade down in detail.

Agent Command Center: Spaces and Kanban

As soon as you are running more than one agent, you need a way to keep track of them. The Agent Command Center is that layer. Spaces group related work, and a Kanban board shows agents as cards moving through states, so a quick local edit and a longer-running cloud job are both visible in one view rather than scattered across windows.

MCP and external tools

Windsurf supports the Model Context Protocol, the open standard for connecting an AI tool to outside data sources and services. In practice that means Cascade can reach a database, an issue tracker, or a documentation source through a shared protocol instead of a bespoke integration for each one.

Checkpoints and reverts

Because an agent makes changes on your behalf, being able to undo cleanly matters. Cascade creates named checkpoints as it works, and you can revert to one if a direction does not pan out. It is the safety net that makes handing work to an agent feel less risky than it sounds.

How the Cascade Agent Works

Cascade is the part of Windsurf you will spend the most time with, so it is worth understanding how it behaves rather than treating it as a black box.

Code mode versus Chat mode

Cascade runs in two modes. Code mode actually edits files in your project, making changes you then review. Chat mode stays conversational, answering questions and offering suggestions without touching the code. The split lets you ask "how would I approach this?" without the agent jumping straight to editing, then switch to Code mode when you are ready to act.

Planning, todo lists, and tool calling

For anything beyond a trivial change, Cascade works as a planning agent. It breaks a request into a todo list and works through the steps, calling tools as it goes. Those tools include searching and analyzing your codebase, web search, MCP connections, and the terminal. There is a ceiling worth knowing: Cascade can make up to 20 tool calls per prompt, which keeps a single request from running away while still allowing real multi-step work.

Fast Context and real-time awareness

Cascade has real-time awareness of what you are doing in the editor, and a Fast Context capability for pulling in the right parts of your codebase quickly. You can also exclude paths from its view with a .codeiumignore file, the same way a .gitignore keeps files out of version control.

Checkpoints you can trust

As covered above, Cascade lays down named checkpoints during a task and lets you revert to any of them. In day-to-day use this is what makes the agent comfortable to lean on: if a multi-step edit goes the wrong way, you roll back to a known-good point rather than untangling it by hand.

Which Models You Can Use

Windsurf is model-flexible by design, mixing Cognition's own coding model with third-party frontier models and smaller, quota-friendly options. The lineup moves fast, so treat the list below as a snapshot taken on June 16, 2026 and confirm the live roster in the official documentation.

Two practical notes that matter for anyone asking what is Windsurf good at on the model side. First, the model you pick affects how fast your usage burns: the vendor describes usage as a quota that refreshes on a daily or weekly basis, with cost-per-message varying by model and task, which is why the mini and open models exist as a way to stretch your allowance. Second, SWE-1.6 is the in-house option built for speed and tight editor integration, while the frontier models are there when you want maximum reasoning. We are deliberately not quoting per-message numbers here because the vendor describes them as variable rather than fixed.

Plans and Pricing at a Glance

Windsurf sells a free tier and a ladder of paid plans, and the rebrand to Devin Desktop carried this pricing over unchanged. The headline prices below are reported by the vendor and were verified on June 16, 2026. Underneath the subscription, usage works as a quota that refreshes on a daily or weekly basis, and the cost of each message varies by the model and the task, so the right way to read these tiers is as different sizes of allowance rather than fixed request counts.

Above Teams sits an Enterprise plan available by contacting sales, which adds VPC deployment, SAML or OIDC single sign-on, and dedicated support for organizations with compliance and scale requirements. Across all tiers, the thing to internalize is the quota model: your plan buys an allowance that refreshes on a schedule, the model you choose changes how fast it depletes, and Pro and higher let you buy extra usage at API rates once you cross the line. For the tier-by-tier detail and what the free plan actually covers, see Windsurf pricing explained.

Installing and Importing Your Setup

Windsurf is a desktop app, and getting started is meant to take minutes rather than an afternoon. It runs on macOS (OS X Yosemite and later), Windows (10 and later), and Linux (glibc 2.28 or newer), and you can create a free account to begin without paying.

The smoother part of onboarding is what you can bring with you. Windsurf can import your settings, extensions, and keybindings from VS Code or from Cursor, so if you already live in one of those editors, your muscle memory mostly carries over. If you would rather start clean, you can skip the import and set things up from scratch. Either way, the goal is to be writing code, or handing a task to Cascade, on day one. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see how to use Windsurf.

Who Windsurf Is For

Windsurf fits a wide range of developers, but the value and the right plan shift by use case. Here is how the main groups line up.

Honest Limitations

Windsurf is a capable tool, and the points below are not reasons to avoid it. They are reasons to use it with clear eyes.

Frequently Asked Questions