The best Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) alternatives in 2026
Autonomous AI software engineer, with a cloud agent, desktop IDE and CLI. Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) scores 7.7/10 in our AI coding assistants ranking. 4 alternatives score higher. Every app below is scored with the same published rubric.
10 alternatives, best first
Full AI coding assistants ranking →- 1
OpenAI Codex
Best forDevelopers who want parallel, asynchronous tasks and pull requests back, bundled with ChatGPT
OpenAI's coding agent across ChatGPT, CLI, IDE extension, desktop app and cloud
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Extension for existing IDEs (VS Code or JetBrains)
Free plan · paid from $8/month
Our OpenAI Codex verdict →Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) vs OpenAI Codex
8.7/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 2
GitHub Copilot
Best forDevelopers and teams on GitHub who want AI in the IDE they already use, at the lowest entry price
GitHub's AI pair programmer and coding agent for IDEs, the CLI and github.com
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Choice of AI models from more than one vendor · Extension for existing IDEs (VS Code or JetBrains)
Free plan · paid from $10/month
8.6/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 3
Claude Code
Best forEngineers who hand off large multi-file tasks and long autonomous runs
Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal, IDEs, desktop and web
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Extension for existing IDEs (VS Code or JetBrains)
From $20/month
8.5/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 4
Cursor
Best forIDE-first developers who want AI in every keystroke and the freedom to switch models
AI-native code editor with local, cloud and CLI coding agents and multi-model choice
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Choice of AI models from more than one vendor
Free plan · paid from $20/month
8.3/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 5
Amp
Best forExperienced developers and teams running many parallel, long-running agents
Coding agent that keeps working in cloud machines, from web, Mac, iOS or terminal
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Choice of AI models from more than one vendor · Use your own API keys, local models or self-hosted deployment
Free plan · paid from $20/month
7.7/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 6
Cline
Best forDevelopers who want an open-source, model-agnostic agent and control over their AI spend
Open-source coding agent for VS Code, terminal and desktop, with any AI model
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Choice of AI models from more than one vendor · Use your own API keys, local models or self-hosted deployment
Free
7.7/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 7
JetBrains AI (Junie)
Best forDevelopers in IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm and other JetBrains IDEs who want a deeply integrated agent
JetBrains' AI coding agent and assistant, built into its IDEs and a CLI
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Choice of AI models from more than one vendor · Use your own API keys, local models or self-hosted deployment
Free plan · paid from $10/month
7.5/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 8
Zed
Best forDevelopers who want a very fast native editor with optional, model-agnostic AI
Fast, open-source code editor with a built-in AI agent and edit predictions
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Choice of AI models from more than one vendor · Use your own API keys, local models or self-hosted deployment
Free plan · paid from $10/month
7.5/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 9
Replit Agent
Best forNon-engineers and indie builders who want a prototype or internal tool from a prompt to a live URL
Browser-based AI agent that builds, tests and deploys full-stack apps
Free plan · paid from $20/month
7.3/10★★★★★Visit ↗ - 10
Gemini Code Assist
Best forTeams standardised on Google Cloud who want a managed, enterprise-licensed assistant
Google's AI coding assistant for teams, in VS Code, JetBrains, the terminal and GitHub
Has that Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) doesn't: Extension for existing IDEs (VS Code or JetBrains)
From $19/user/month
6.9/10★★★★★Visit ↗
Quick answers
What is the best alternative to Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf)?
In our AI coding assistants ranking, OpenAI Codex scores highest among the alternatives (8.7/10). Best for: Developers who want parallel, asynchronous tasks and pull requests back, bundled with ChatGPT. Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) scores 7.7/10.
Is there a free alternative to Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf)?
Yes. OpenAI Codex has a free plan (Quick coding tasks on ChatGPT Free), and scores 8.7/10 in our ranking.
Why look for a Devin (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) alternative?
Common reasons people switch: The Windsurf rebrand forced users to migrate. Quota-based usage can be opaque; heavy use pushes you to the $200 plan. Little recent independent benchmark data.