№ — Head-to-Head
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) vs Aider
Side by side: starting price, pricing model, free tier and platforms. Check each vendor's pricing page before you buy, since plans change often.
At a glance
What each one is
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
Devin Desktop is the AI-first IDE formerly called Windsurf. Cognition acquired it and rebranded the editor on 2 June 2026 — windsurf.com now redirects to devin.ai/desktop. The Cascade agent was retired on 1 July 2026 and replaced by Devin Local, a rewritten Rust-based agent with subagent support, and the editor now opens on an Agent Command Center that tracks local and cloud agent sessions side by side. Existing Windsurf settings carried over automatically. Free tier with a daily quota; paid plans start at $20/mo.
Full Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) entry →Aider
Aider is an AI coding assistant that works in your terminal. Edit code across multiple files with natural language.
Full Aider entry →We haven't written a verdict for this matchup yet, so we don't name a winner. How we choose what to feature is explained in our editorial methodology.