Windsurf vs Claude Code: AI IDE or terminal agent?

Windsurf, now called Devin Desktop, is an AI IDE with an agent command centre for local and cloud agents. Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent, which you can run from the terminal, an IDE extension, a desktop app or the web. Pick the IDE if you want to write code in an AI-first editor all day; pick Claude Code if you want to hand off multi-file tasks and review the result. You do not have to choose, because Anthropic's docs say the Claude Code extension also installs in Devin Desktop.

This page is for developers, technical founders and engineering leads who are choosing between an editor and an agent. It is not a points table. The question we use is simpler: are you an editor person or a delegate-and-review person, and do you need to choose at all?

Both tools have listings on Unloc: Windsurf / Devin Desktop and Claude Code. Browse the wider field on coding agents or the full /tools directory.

Quick answer

If you are weighing two editors, read Cursor vs Windsurf instead. If you are weighing Claude Code against an editor, read Claude Code vs Cursor. This page covers the Windsurf side of that same fork.

First, the name: Windsurf is now Devin Desktop

Many people still search for Windsurf, so the name needs sorting out before anything else. Here is the short version, from Cognition's own pages.

What changed on 2 June 2026

Cognition renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop on 2 June 2026. The official post is titled Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, and Cognition's launch post, Introducing Devin Desktop, calls it the next generation of Windsurf. Its FAQ says Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf: the same IDE and the same editor, unified under the Devin brand, with the Agent Command Center now the primary view.

What did not change

According to Cognition, the update arrived over the air. Your plan, pricing, extensions, settings and in-progress work carried over, and the classic editor experience is still there. The product page says the same thing in its FAQ.

The wrinkles

There are a few places where the old name survives, and it helps to know them so you do not think you are looking at a different product.

• The JetBrains plugin. The product page says Windsurf for JetBrains continues to be available for download, and it still goes by that name.
• Devin is a family name. Devin Desktop is one of four surfaces under the Devin brand, alongside Devin Cloud, Devin CLI and Devin Review. "Devin" on its own does not mean the IDE.
• The agent inside the IDE. The local agent is now called Devin Local. It replaces Cascade, the agent Windsurf users knew. The Devin Desktop changelog records that Cascade was removed in its 8 September 2026 release, and that Devin Local is now the only agent in the IDE.
• Install and package names. The getting-started doc still shows some older "windsurf" naming in places, such as package repositories.

For the full rename explainer, use the Cursor vs Windsurf page. On this page we say "Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)" once and "Devin Desktop" after that, and we keep "Windsurf" in headings and tables so the search term stays visible.

What Windsurf (Devin Desktop) is

The IDE: editor, Tab completions and Devin Local

Devin Desktop is a desktop IDE for Mac, Windows and Linux. The getting-started doc says you can import VS Code or Cursor settings, so the move from another editor is not a fresh start. The product page lists Tab completions, which it describes as predicting your next thought rather than just your next edit, and a built-in code review surface, Devin Review.

The agent in the editor is Devin Local. Its docs describe subagents, a sandbox mode and permission rules, and the Devin Desktop FAQ says it runs the same architecture as Devin CLI.

The Agent Command Center

The feature that sets Devin Desktop apart is the Agent Command Center. Cognition describes it as one view for managing every agent you have running, both local agents in your editor and cloud agents on their own virtual machines. The product page shows sessions on a board or a list, grouped into Spaces, with status for each one: running, waiting for review, done.

That is a different idea of the working day from a single chat panel. You are not in one conversation; you are supervising several.

Open to other agents through ACP

Devin Desktop also supports the Agent Client Protocol, or ACP. Cognition says any ACP-compatible agent can run inside the Agent Command Center. Its ACP doc names examples including Codex CLI, Claude Agent, OpenCode, Junie and Gemini CLI. The protocol itself is described at agentclientprotocol.com. We come back to this in the section on using both.

What Claude Code is

Surfaces

Anthropic's overview describes Claude Code as an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands and integrates with your development tools. It runs on several surfaces: the terminal, IDE extensions for VS Code and JetBrains, a desktop app and the web. The docs also describe starting a task on one surface and continuing it on another, and routing tasks from Slack.

Anthropic says each surface connects to the same underlying engine, so your repository's CLAUDE.md files, settings and MCP servers work across all of them.

How you work with it

You describe the task in plain language. Claude Code reads the relevant files, makes the edits and runs the commands. Anthropic's overview says it works directly with git: it stages changes, writes commit messages, creates branches and opens pull requests. It can also run in continuous integration through GitHub Actions or GitLab CI/CD, and you can pipe output into it or script it from the command line.

It does not act without limits. Anthropic documents a permission system with fine-grained rules, modes and managed policies, so you decide what it may do without asking. For longer jobs, the docs describe subagents, and background agents that let you watch several full sessions from one screen.

Access

Most Claude Code surfaces need a Claude subscription or an Anthropic Console account. The pricing page says Claude Code is included in all paid plans, and the plan families are Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. The Claude Code docs say the desktop app needs a paid subscription. Check Claude pricing for the current tiers and limits, because they change.

Side by side

We deliberately do not list model names here. Model menus change often, and both vendors keep their own current lists.

Which one fits your day

Choose Windsurf (Devin Desktop) if...

• You want to write and read code in an AI-first editor for most of the day.
• You want completions as you type, not only task hand-offs.
• You want to see several agents, local and cloud, on one board.
• You already use VS Code or Cursor settings and are happy to move editors.
• Your team is on Cognition's Devin products and wants the pieces to fit.

Choose Claude Code if...

• You would rather describe a task, step away and review the result.
• You work from a terminal, or want to script the agent and run it in CI.
• You want to keep your current editor and add an agent to it.
• You want one agent that follows you between the terminal, an IDE, the desktop app and the web.
• Your team is already on Claude plans.

Three real tasks

A small UI fix. Say a button looks wrong on one screen. Use the IDE. You can see the file, change a line, check the result and move on, and Tab completions help while you type. Starting an agent for a one-line change is more ceremony than the change deserves.

A repo-wide migration. Say you need to move every call site from one library version to another. Use Claude Code, or a long-running agent in either tool. The work is wide and repetitive, and the value is in the review at the end, not in typing. Claude Code is built for multi-file, multi-step work you can leave running, and the docs describe subagents and background sessions for it. Devin Desktop can run agents too, including cloud agents, so the real question is whether you want to supervise from an editor or from a terminal.

A test-fix-PR loop. Say a flaky test needs tracing, fixing and a pull request. Use Claude Code if you want the loop to run unattended: it can edit, run the tests, commit and open the pull request. Use Devin Desktop if you want to watch it from the board and hand it between local and cloud. Either way, you review the pull request.

None of these needs a religion about tools. A good rule is to use the editor when you are the one typing and the agent when someone else, or something else, should be doing the typing.

Using both

This is the part most comparison pages skim.

The Claude Code extension inside Devin Desktop

Anthropic's VS Code doc says the Claude Code extension also installs in other VS Code forks, naming Devin Desktop and Kiro. The same doc has install links for Cursor. You can search for "Claude Code" in the editor's extensions view, or install it from the Open VSX registry. That means you can keep Devin Desktop as your editor and still have Claude Code in a panel next to your files.

Claude Agent through ACP

The other route is ACP. Devin's ACP doc names "Claude Agent" among the agents you can run in the Agent Command Center, and links it to Anthropic's Claude Code page. We are repeating Cognition's name here. We have not checked that "Claude Agent" through ACP behaves exactly like the Claude Code extension, so treat them as two routes to test, not one.

Per Devin's docs, ACP agents are available on its Free, Pro, Max and Teams plans, and on Enterprise plans third-party agents are off by default until an admin enables them.

Billing

When you run a third-party agent in Devin Desktop, you pay that provider. The ACP doc says that when you use an external ACP agent, all agent operations are delegated to the agent, Devin Desktop's privacy policy and legal terms do not apply, and billing is directly between you and the third-party agent provider. So the sensible rule is to mix agents deliberately and not to stack seats blindly. Check what each plan covers before you add a second one.

Shared instruction files

Both tools read AGENTS.md. Devin's FAQ says Devin Desktop reads AGENTS.md files, and Anthropic's docs say Claude Code can read AGENTS.md in place of a CLAUDE.md. That makes AGENTS.md the safest shared file if you want one set of project instructions for both.

CLAUDE.md is less certain. Claude Code reads it. Devin's CLI rules doc lists CLAUDE.md among the files Devin CLI reads, and its Devin Local doc points to the same rules page, but we did not find a line that says so explicitly for the Devin Desktop editor. Unconfirmed: whether Devin Local in Devin Desktop reads CLAUDE.md. If it matters to you, put your rules in AGENTS.md or test it on your own repo.

How this differs from our other pages

• Cursor vs Windsurf compares two editors and carries the full rename explainer.
• Claude Code vs Cursor compares a terminal agent with an editor, using Cursor as the editor.
• This page takes the Windsurf (Devin Desktop) side of that same fork, and asks whether you need to choose at all.

Related: Claude vs Cursor, GitHub Copilot vs Claude Code, and Cursor vs GitHub Copilot. If you want to keep your current editor and add AI without changing tools, GitHub Copilot is the other route. Cursor has its own listing too.

Frequently asked questions

Is Windsurf the same as Devin Desktop?

Yes. Cognition renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop on 2 June 2026, and its FAQ describes it as the same IDE with the same features, delivered as a regular over-the-air update.

What is the difference between Windsurf and Claude Code?

Windsurf (Devin Desktop) is an editor you write code in, with an agent command centre for local and cloud agents. Claude Code is an agent from Anthropic that works from the terminal, an IDE extension, a desktop app or the web, and edits files and runs commands on your behalf.

Is Claude Code better than Windsurf?

Neither is better for everyone. Claude Code suits people who want to delegate whole tasks and review the output, and Devin Desktop suits people who want an AI-first editor with completions and a view of all their agents.

Can I use Claude Code inside Windsurf (Devin Desktop)?

Yes. Anthropic's documentation says the Claude Code extension also installs in forks like Devin Desktop, and Cognition says Devin Desktop supports third-party agents through the Agent Client Protocol, naming Claude Agent among them.

Do I need a paid plan for each?

Devin Desktop lists a Free plan alongside Pro, Max, Teams and Enterprise tiers, while Claude Code is included with paid Claude plans (Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise) or used through Anthropic's developer platform. Check the live pricing pages before you buy, because limits and tiers change.

Which is better for large refactors and migrations?

Claude Code is built for multi-file, multi-step agent work you can leave running and review afterwards. Devin Desktop can also run agents, including cloud agents, so the real question is whether you want to supervise from an editor or from a terminal.

Which is better for someone who doesn't want to leave VS Code?

Devin Desktop is its own IDE, although it can import VS Code settings, so it is a move rather than an add-on. Claude Code can run as a VS Code extension, so it is the lighter change.

Does the Windsurf name still work for searching and docs?

Yes, many people still search for it, and windsurf.com now redirects to Devin's site. In current documentation the product is called Devin Desktop, although the JetBrains plugin is still called Windsurf for JetBrains.

Method and last updated

Last updated: October 29, 2026.

How we pick: we compare the job each tool is for, from official product pages and documentation, not a paid ranking. We name plan tiers but never print prices, because they change; use the live pricing links above. Where we could not confirm a claim in an official source, we say so on the page. We link every product claim to a vendor page or doc.

Sources: Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, Introducing Devin Desktop, Devin Desktop FAQ, Devin Desktop product page, Devin pricing, Devin Desktop getting started, Agent Command Center, Devin Local, Devin Desktop ACP doc, Devin Desktop changelog, Agent Client Protocol, Claude Code product page, Claude Code overview, Claude Code in VS Code, Claude Code permissions, Claude Code memory and AGENTS.md and Claude pricing.