the best Windsurf alternatives, ranked

full-guide.md

quick answer: Windsurf hasn't gone anywhere, it's been renamed. Cognition turned it into Devin Desktop on june 2, 2026, same IDE, same plans, same prices. if you're leaving anyway, the best Windsurf alternative is Claude Code (#1 of 13 coding agents, 9.0/10) for handing off whole features. want another ai editor instead? Cursor (#2, 8.5). want open source and any model? OpenCode (#3, 8.5).

first things first: Windsurf is Devin Desktop now

half the people searching "Windsurf alternatives" think it's been switched off. it hasn't. here's what Cognition's own announcement and FAQ actually say:

• it's a rename, not a shutdown. Devin Desktop is "the new name for Windsurf": same IDE, same editor, same features. it arrived as a normal over-the-air update on june 2, 2026, and windsurf.com now lands you on devin.ai/desktop.
• your plan didn't change. Cognition says pricing is unchanged for every plan type, legacy Windsurf Enterprise included.
• the front page did. the Agent Command Center (Spaces, a kanban board, multi-agent management) is now the default view. the classic editor, extensions, keybindings and LSPs are all still there underneath.
• Cascade is gone. its replacement is Devin Local, rewritten in Rust, with subagents and up to 30% better token efficiency by Cognition's numbers. the old Cascade agent was only kept around until july 1.
• your rules still work. .windsurfrules and .windsurf/rules/ are still read, .devin/rules/ is the new home, and it reads AGENTS.md too. the old surf command still ships, but the new one is devin-desktop.
• JetBrains users got the short straw. the Windsurf JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode and Cascade inside it is being deprecated. Cognition recommends running Devin over ACP instead.
• it plays nicely with other agents. Devin Desktop launched with support for the agent client protocol, so Codex, OpenCode and other ACP agents can run inside it.

so if you liked Windsurf, you already have it. Devin Desktop sits at #8 on our coding agents board with 7.0/10. the people who go looking for an alternative usually want one of three things: a stronger agent than the one built in, an ai editor that isn't an agent dashboard first, or a home for their JetBrains workflow now that the plugin's been put out to pasture.

the ranking

ranks and scores come straight from our board, and nobody pays to move up it.

why each one ranks where it does

Claude Code (#1): the step up for agent work

if Cascade, or now Devin Local, kept running out of road on big changes, this is the one. Anthropic pitches it at bug fixes, tests and multi-day migrations, steered from your terminal, IDE, Slack or the web. it has extensions for VS Code and JetBrains, plus a desktop app for macOS, Linux and Windows. it needs a paid Claude plan (Pro $20/mo and up). details in Claude Code pricing.

Cursor (#2): the like-for-like swap

the nearest thing to old Windsurf: an ai editor first, with the Cursor agent built in and cloud agents and automations from Premium up. the catch is the models. Plus is Grok models only, and on Premium and up third-party models are billed separately at API list price. the full head-to-head is in Cursor vs Windsurf.

OpenCode (#3): open source, bring any model

an MIT-licensed agent for the terminal, a desktop app or your IDE. 75+ providers through Models.dev, local models included, and it ships with free models so you can start at nothing. you can log in with a GitHub Copilot or ChatGPT Plus/Pro account and use those models. it also runs inside Devin Desktop over ACP, if you fancy having both. more in OpenCode vs Claude Code.

GitHub Copilot (#4): if you mostly used the autocomplete

it lives in the editor you've already got rather than asking you to move house: GitHub's plans page lists VS Code, Visual Studio, Xcode, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, Eclipse and Zed, among others. inline suggestions are unlimited on paid plans and the free plan gets 2,000 a month. agent mode, the CLI and the cloud agent spend GitHub ai credits, so heavy agent use is where the meter runs. more: GitHub Copilot alternatives.

Cline (#5): pay for the model and nothing else

open-source agent for VS Code and the CLI. no subscription and no seat fee for individuals: you pay for inference, through Cline at cost or with your own key from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter and the rest.

OpenAI Codex (#6): already paying for ChatGPT?

Codex comes with every ChatGPT plan, the free one included with limits. it runs as an app, a CLI, an IDE extension and in the cloud. if ChatGPT's already on your card, it's sitting there. details in Codex pricing.

Google Antigravity (#7): the $0 agent IDE

the closest in spirit to where Devin Desktop has gone: agent-first, with an app, a CLI and IDE extensions. the individual plan is $0 with unlimited Tab and Command requests and basic weekly rate limits. Google AI Pro and Ultra raise the limits.

Kiro (#9): specs before code

AWS's spec-first agent IDE. it turns your prompt into requirements, a design and a task list, then builds it with parallel agents and checks the result with property-based tests. the free plan gets 50 credits/mo (perpetual). for people who got tired of an agent wandering off.

JetBrains Air (#12): for the stranded JetBrains crowd

if you ran Windsurf inside IntelliJ or PyCharm, this is the one to look at. air runs Claude agent, Codex, Junie, Copilot, OpenCode and other ACP agents inside JetBrains IDEs, side by side, with your own subscriptions or API keys. you can start locally and hand longer jobs to cloud agents.

the Windsurf alternative for JetBrains

the Windsurf JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode and newer JetBrains releases can break it, Cognition's words. three ways out:

• JetBrains Air: several agents inside the IDE, run together.
• Claude Code: has its own JetBrains plugin.
• stay with Cognition: their FAQ points you at Devin over ACP in JetBrains.

the free Windsurf alternative

• Devin Desktop itself: the free plan still has light agent quota, unlimited Tab completions and inline edits. yes, the "alternative" is the same thing.
• Google Antigravity: $0 individual plan, unlimited Tab, basic weekly agent limits.
• OpenCode: free and open source, ships with free models, or point it at a local one.
• Cline: free software, but you pay for the model unless you run a local one.
• GitHub Copilot: the free plan gets limited chat and agent usage.
• OpenAI Codex: in ChatGPT's free plan, with limits.

every free tier, side by side: best free ai coding agents.

who should pick which

• liked Windsurf, just confused by the name: stay put, it's Devin Desktop
• want a stronger agent for big changes: Claude Code
• want an ai editor that's an editor first: Cursor
• want open source and any model: OpenCode
• only ever used the autocomplete: GitHub Copilot
• want no subscription at all: Cline with your own key
• already paying for ChatGPT: Codex
• live in JetBrains: JetBrains Air, or Claude Code's plugin

more: Windsurf pricing, Cursor alternatives, the best ai coding agents.

faq

what happened to Windsurf?

Cognition renamed it Devin Desktop on june 2, 2026 and shipped it as a normal update. same IDE, same plans and pricing. the Agent Command Center became the default view and the Cascade agent was replaced by Devin Local.

is Windsurf discontinued?

the name is, the product isn't. it carries on as Devin Desktop, and your Windsurf settings, extensions and rules came across with it.

what is the best alternative to Windsurf?

on our board it's Claude Code (#1, 9.0/10) for agent work. if you want another ai editor, Cursor (#2, 8.5). if you want open source and any model, OpenCode (#3, 8.5).

is there a free Windsurf alternative?

yes. Google Antigravity has a $0 individual plan, OpenCode is free with free models, Cline is free software where you only pay for the model, and Devin Desktop itself still has a free plan.

does Windsurf still work in JetBrains?

the Windsurf JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode and Cascade inside it is being deprecated. Cognition recommends Devin over ACP. JetBrains Air and Claude Code's JetBrains plugin are the other routes.

do my .windsurfrules still work in Devin Desktop?

yes. Devin Desktop still reads .windsurfrules and .windsurf/rules/, prefers the new .devin/rules/, reads AGENTS.md and can import .cursor/rules.

sources

checked 2026-10-21

• Windsurf is now Devin Desktop (Cognition, june 2, 2026; Devin Local, ACP agents): https://devin.ai/blog/windsurf-is-now-devin-desktop
• Devin Desktop FAQ (rename, pricing unchanged, Cascade, JetBrains plugin, rules, surf command): https://docs.devin.ai/desktop/devin-desktop-faq
• Devin Desktop page (windsurf.com redirects here): https://devin.ai/desktop
• Devin plans and pricing: https://devin.ai/pricing
• Claude Code product page (surfaces, VS Code and JetBrains): https://claude.com/product/claude-code
• Claude pricing (Claude Code in paid plans): https://claude.com/pricing
• Cursor pricing: https://cursor.com/pricing
• OpenCode homepage (providers, free models, Copilot and ChatGPT logins, MIT): https://opencode.ai/
• GitHub Copilot plans (inline suggestions, ai credits): https://github.com/features/copilot/plans
• Cline pricing: https://cline.bot/pricing
• Codex pricing: https://developers.openai.com/codex/pricing
• Antigravity pricing: https://antigravity.google/pricing
• Kiro homepage and pricing: https://kiro.dev/ and https://kiro.dev/pricing/
• JetBrains Air in IDEs: https://www.jetbrains.com/air/ides/
• ranks, scores, verdicts and free tiers: numptr data/tools.json (coding agents board)

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