Comparison
Cursor vs GitHub Copilot vs Devin Desktop: Best AI Coding Assistant
Best AI Tools Editorial·Updated November 7, 2026·4 min read
Comparison
Cursor vs GitHub Copilot vs Devin Desktop: Best AI Coding Assistant
The short answer
Choose GitHub Copilot if you want AI inside the editor you already use, Cursor if you want an editor and agent in one app, and Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) if you want an agent-first editor with cloud hand-off. Copilot Pro is cheapest at $10, Cursor’s $8 plan runs only Grok models since SpaceX bought it, and Devin Desktop Pro costs $20.
How we chose
- —Whether it works inside your existing editor
- —Free plan limits and paid plan prices
- —Agent and code-review features by plan
- —Model access and ownership
Checked: Vendor pricing pages, product pages and announcements Not done: No hands-on benchmarks or coding trials; we did not run these tools on a test project for this article.
Facts as of November 7, 2026 · Nobody paid to be included
Which AI coding assistant is best?
Cursor, GitHub Copilot and Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) are three of the AI coding tools developers most often choose between. All three do autocomplete, chat and agentic edits; the real differences are where they live (a separate editor or the one you already use), how their agents hand work off, and what each plan actually includes.
What changed in 2026
Windsurf is now Devin Desktop: Cognition renamed it on 2 June 2026 and windsurf.com redirects to devin.ai/desktop. Cursor changed hands too — SpaceX completed its acquisition of parent company Anysphere on 14 August 2026, and Cursor’s cheapest paid tier now runs Grok models only.
At a glance
| Cursor | GitHub Copilot | Devin Desktop | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form factor | Standalone AI editor | Extension for VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode and more | Standalone AI editor |
| Best for | An editor and agent in one app | Staying in your current editor | Agent-first work with cloud hand-off |
| Free plan | Yes, limited agent and chat requests | 2,000 completions a month; limited chat and agent use | Yes |
| Main paid plans | Premium $30 (Plus $8 is Grok-only) | Pro $10; Pro+ $39 | Pro $20; Max $200 |
| Agent features | Cloud agents and automations from Premium | Agent mode on every plan; coding agent opens PRs from Pro | Devin Local, plus hand-off to Devin Cloud |
| AI code review | Bugbot, from Premium | From Pro | Devin Review |
| Owner | SpaceX | GitHub | Cognition |
Cursor: the all-in-one editor
Cursor is a full editor built around AI, with limited agent and chat requests even on the free plan. From Premium at $30 a month it adds cloud agents and automations, code hosting and AI code reviews through Bugbot. The catch since the SpaceX acquisition is model access: the $8 Plus plan runs only Grok models, and Claude or GPT models are available from Premium, billed separately at API list price. If you want one application that is both your editor and your agent and are willing to adopt a new editor, Cursor is the front-runner.
- —Cloud agents, automations and Bugbot code reviews from Premium
- —Super ($100) and Ultra ($200) buy 15× and 50× Plus usage
- —Budget for API costs if you want Claude or GPT models
GitHub Copilot: the lowest-friction option
Copilot is the low-friction choice because it lives inside the editor you already use — VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Neovim, Eclipse and Zed are all supported on every individual plan. Agent mode is included even on the free plan, which gives 2,000 completions a month. Pro at $10 adds unlimited completions, the coding agent that turns an assigned task into a pull request, code review and $15 of monthly credits; Pro+ at $39 adds premium models and more usage. If you don’t want to change tools, start here.
Editor’s pick — least friction
If you want AI in VS Code or JetBrains today without changing your setup, GitHub Copilot is the easiest yes.
Devin Desktop: the agent-first editor
Devin Desktop is a standalone AI editor that opens on an Agent Command Center, a Kanban board for local and cloud agent sessions. It was called Windsurf until Cognition renamed it on 2 June 2026; the Cascade agent that defined the original stayed available only until 1 July 2026 and was replaced by Devin Local, a Rust rewrite that Cognition says is up to 30% more token-efficient. Its distinctive trick is hand-off: a session can move between your machine and Devin Cloud with the same context. There is a free plan, and Pro is $20 a month.
How to choose
- 01Want to keep your current editor? → GitHub Copilot, free or $10 for Pro.
- 02Want your editor and agent in one app, and don’t mind switching? → Cursor, budgeting $30 plus API costs for non-Grok models.
- 03Want agents that keep working in the cloud after you close the laptop? → Devin Desktop.
Sources
Update log
- November 7, 2026Added sources and a How we chose box. Replaced unsourced ratings (codebase awareness, agentic edits) with plan facts and prices for all three tools: Copilot’s free plan limits and Pro and Pro+ prices, Cursor’s model billing on Premium, and Devin Desktop’s plans and cloud hand-off. Removed the unverified claim that Cursor is a VS Code fork.
- October 14, 2026Renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop throughout and added a note on the rename and on SpaceX’s acquisition of Cursor.
- May 12, 2026First published.
Spotted an error? Email us. Fixes are listed on our corrections page.
Frequently asked
- Is Cursor better than GitHub Copilot?
- Cursor bundles the editor and agent in one app and adds cloud agents from Premium, but it requires switching editors and, since the SpaceX acquisition, its $8 plan is Grok-only. GitHub Copilot works inside your existing editor, has native GitHub integration and is cheaper at $10 for Pro. “Better” depends on whether you value an all-in-one editor or zero-friction setup.
- Do these AI coding tools have free versions?
- Yes. Cursor, GitHub Copilot and Devin Desktop all offer free plans with usage limits; Copilot’s includes 2,000 completions a month and agent mode. Paid plans start at $8 for Cursor (Grok models only), $10 for Copilot Pro and $20 for Devin Desktop Pro.
- Can I use them with my existing VS Code setup?
- GitHub Copilot is an extension for VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs and several other editors, so your setup stays as it is. Cursor and Devin Desktop are separate applications, so you are running a different editor; Cognition says Windsurf users kept their extensions when it became Devin Desktop.
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