Claude Code vs Devin and Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf): which fits website work?

Choose Claude Code if you want Anthropic's own agent running Claude models, with usage included in a flat Claude plan, and you want to work from a terminal, the Claude desktop app, the web or an IDE extension. Choose Devin if you want Cognition's family of agents, a full IDE (Devin Desktop) that manages several local and cloud agents at once, and a choice of models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Cognition. Both can read a website project, change many files, run commands and hand back work for review, so the decision usually comes down to how your team likes to work, which models it wants and how it wants to pay.

If you last looked at this market a year ago, one name has changed. Cognition says: "On June 2, 2026, Windsurf is becoming Devin Desktop." It describes Devin Desktop as "the new name for Windsurf," with the same IDE and features under the Devin brand. So a comparison of Claude Code and Windsurf today is a comparison with Devin Desktop.

Details are as of October 2026, from each vendor's own pages; check both pricing pages before you buy.

What changed: Windsurf is now Devin Desktop

Cognition's Devin Desktop FAQ explains the rename in its own words: "We're unifying all of our products under the Devin brand: Devin Cloud, Devin Desktop, Devin CLI, and Devin Review." The windsurf.com address now redirects to Cognition's Devin Desktop page.

What the FAQ says this means for a customer:

• Plans and pricing: "Your current plan continues to work exactly as it does today. Pricing is unchanged." This includes legacy Windsurf Enterprise plans.
• The agent: the local agent is being renamed Devin Local. The FAQ said the existing Cascade agent "remains available through July," so if your team relied on Cascade, ask Cognition what is current.
• Rules files: Devin Desktop still reads .windsurfrules and .windsurf/rules/, prefers .devin/rules/, and also reads AGENTS.md.
• JetBrains: the Windsurf JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode, and Cognition recommends connecting Devin through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) instead.

What each tool is

Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool. Anthropic says it "reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and integrates with your development tools," and it is "available in your terminal, IDE, desktop app, and browser."

Devin is Cognition's agent family. Cognition calls Devin "an autonomous AI software engineer that can write, run and test code," and gives a rule of thumb: "if you can do it in three hours, Devin can most likely do it." Devin Cloud runs tasks in the cloud. Devin Desktop is a full IDE, which Cognition says can "Manage fleets of local and cloud agents from one surface." Devin CLI runs in the terminal, and Devin Review reviews pull requests.

Claude Code also has a desktop app and a browser version for people who don't use a code editor. Our guide to Claude Code on the web covers its cloud sessions.

Side-by-side comparison

Pricing in October 2026

Devin

Cognition's pricing page lists three individual plans. Free is $0, with a "Light quota to code with agents." Pro is $20 per month and adds "access to frontier models from OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, and SpaceXAI," access to Devin Cloud, and extra usage at API pricing. Max is $200 per month with "Significantly higher quotas."

Teams is "$80 /month for team plan + $40/mo per full dev seat," for up to 200 users. Cognition's billing docs explain the mechanics: every Teams account pays at least $80 a month, a full seat costs $40 a month and includes a Pro-equivalent quota and Devin Desktop, and a free "flex seat" draws from shared credits but does not include Devin Desktop. Enterprise is "Let's talk."

One detail is worth knowing: Cognition doesn't publish the size of each plan's quota, only that it refreshes daily and weekly. Prepaid on-demand credits roll over and "never expire."

Claude Code

Claude Code is included in Claude Pro ($20 per month billed monthly, or $17 a month on the annual plan, billed as $200 up front), Max (from $100 per month, monthly billing only), every Team seat and Enterprise, within each plan's usage limits. Team Standard seats are $25 per month billed monthly or $20 billed annually, for 2 to 150 people. Enterprise is $20 per seat per month billed annually, with a 20-seat minimum, plus usage at API rates. Our guide to Claude Code pricing has the full breakdown and hypothetical budgets.

What this means

Both start at $20 a month. Claude Pro buys Claude models plus Claude chat on one shared allowance; Devin Pro buys an allowance across several vendors' models and Devin Cloud.

Models: both offer Claude

Devin is not a non-Claude alternative. Its Desktop models page lists Claude Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Fable 5.1 and several older Claude models, next to GPT, Gemini and Cognition's SWE-2. The CLI docs say Cognition supports "the latest and greatest models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Cognition within minutes of their launch," and you pick one with commands such as devin --model opus.

Claude Code runs Claude models only. On a subscription, the default model is Opus 5.5, and you can switch with /model.

So the question is breadth, not access: both get you Claude, and Devin makes GPT or Gemini a menu choice.

Agent features compared fairly

On paper the feature lists now overlap heavily. Devin's CLI extensibility docs cover rules, skills, plugins, subagents, MCP servers and hooks, and Devin CLI has an OS-level sandbox and permission rules. Devin Local in Desktop supports subagents and sandboxing too. Claude Code has the same building blocks: a CLAUDE.md instruction file, skills, hooks, subagents, plugins, MCP, permission modes and a sandbox on macOS, Linux and WSL2.

One detail makes switching easier in either direction. Devin CLI imports configuration from other tools by default, including CLAUDE.md as rules and the .claude/ folder's commands, custom subagents and hooks. A team that has written a good CLAUDE.md for its site can try Devin without rewriting it. Our CLAUDE.md templates work as a starting point for either.

Where they differ is emphasis:

• Parallel agents: Devin Desktop puts an Agent Command Center, with a board of running sessions, at the front. Claude Code also runs background sessions (one screen lists them all) and cloud sessions.
• Integrations: Devin lists Slack, Teams, Linear, Jira, GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket. Claude Code offers a GitHub Action, GitLab CI/CD (beta), Slack, and Code Review (a research preview on Team and Enterprise).
• Surfaces for non-developers: Claude Code's desktop app lets someone "review its changes without using a terminal." Devin Desktop is an IDE, but team members can start a Devin session by tagging Devin in Slack or Microsoft Teams.

Running many agents at once has a cost on a live site. When we rebuilt eseospace.com, one Claude Code session regenerated pages that another session had just edited, and the edits disappeared. The lesson applies to any multi-agent tool: before you deploy, check git history for changes you didn't make.

Data, training and ownership

Cognition's security page says: "By default, we may use your data for model training purposes to improve and enhance the Services. If you're on a paid plan, you can opt out at any time on the Data Controls settings page." After an opt-out, Cognition says your data isn't used for training and zero data retention is turned on with its model providers. On Teams, only an administrator can opt out. Enterprise customers' data is never used for training without "express prior written consent." Cognition says Devin's output is the user's intellectual property.

For Claude Code, Anthropic's data usage page says that under commercial terms (Team, Enterprise and the API) it "does not train generative models using code or prompts sent to Claude Code" unless the customer opts in. On Free, Pro and Max, training happens only when the model-training setting is on, and you can turn it off. Standard retention is 30 days for commercial accounts; on consumer plans it is 30 days, or five years if you allow training.

If your site holds client or customer data, decide who sets the training option before anyone connects a repository. Our guide to Claude Code data privacy goes deeper. This is a summary, not legal advice.

Where each fits website work

Claude Code suits you if:

• You want Claude models on a flat plan.
• Someone on the team doesn't use a code editor and needs the desktop app or the browser.
• You want one subscription that covers Claude chat and the coding agent.

Devin suits you if:

• Your developers want an IDE that runs and tracks several agents at once.
• You want to switch between Claude, GPT and Gemini models in one product.
• Your work starts in Linear or Jira tickets and you want an agent to pick them up.

Comparing editor-first tools more widely? See Claude Code vs Cursor, Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex and Claude Code vs Cline.

How to decide

1. Name who will run it. A developer in an IDE may prefer Devin Desktop. A marketer or owner may find Claude's desktop app easier.
2. List the models you need. Claude only points to Claude Code; several vendors points to Devin.
3. Price real use with a short trial; neither vendor publishes exact quotas.
4. Set the data options first. On Devin, an admin opts out of training; on Claude consumer plans, each user checks the setting.
5. Pilot on a copy of the site, in git, with one real task and a person reviewing every change before it merges.

Conclusion

Claude Code and Devin are both capable agents for website work, and both run Claude models. Claude Code is Anthropic's own tool, with Claude usage included in a flat plan and surfaces for people who don't code. Devin, now including the IDE formerly called Windsurf, is a multi-model, multi-agent platform built for engineering teams with ticket queues. Pick the one that fits your people and your models, test it on a copy of your site, and keep a person approving what ships. If you want help choosing and setting up either for a team, our Claude Code consulting covers rollout, permissions and review. More guides are in our Claude Code Guide.

Frequently asked questions