What is the difference between Claude Code and Windsurf?
Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent; Windsurf, now called Devin Desktop, is Cognition's AI code editor. With Claude Code you describe a task in your terminal, IDE, the desktop app or the browser, and the agent reads code, edits files and runs commands. Devin Desktop is a full editor you write code in, with Tab completions, inline edits, a built-in agent called Devin Local and a board for managing local and cloud agents.
So the choice is mostly about how you work. If you want to delegate tasks and review diffs, possibly from inside the editor you already use, Claude Code fits. If you want to switch to one AI-first editor with its own completions and a choice of models, Devin Desktop fits. The two also combine: Claude Code's extension installs in Devin Desktop.
What happened to Windsurf?
Cognition renamed Windsurf on June 2, 2026. The Devin Desktop FAQ says "It's the same IDE, same editor, and has the same features," and "All of your Windsurf settings will be ported to Devin Desktop automatically." The surf shell command became devin-desktop, and existing .windsurf/rules/ folders still work, with .devin/ as the preferred folder.
The agent changed more than the name. Devin Local became the primary agent, and the changelog for version 3.9.19 (September 8, 2026) says "Cascade has been removed." For a fuller look at the rename, see Cursor vs Windsurf. Below, "Windsurf" and "Devin Desktop" mean the same product.
How does Claude Code work?
Claude Code is "an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and integrates with your development tools." It runs in the terminal, a VS Code extension, a JetBrains plugin, a desktop app and the browser at claude.ai/code. A typical session:
cd your-project
claude
Then you describe a task, review what Claude proposes and commit. For scripts and CI, claude -p "query" runs one task and exits. Claude Code has six permission modes: default, acceptEdits, plan, auto, dontAsk and bypassPermissions. Cloud sessions run on infrastructure Anthropic manages and can be started from the browser, the mobile app, the desktop app or the terminal; they are available on Pro, Max and Team plans.
Claude Code uses Anthropic's Claude models. Install steps are in the Claude Code setup guide.
How does Windsurf (Devin Desktop) work?
Devin Desktop is "a next-generation AI IDE built to keep you in the flow," for macOS, Windows and Linux. The main pieces:
- Tab, "powered by our custom in-house model," with a Supercomplete mode that suggests deletions and additions around your cursor, plus Tab to Jump and Tab to Import.
- Command (Cmd/Ctrl+I) for inline edits from a plain-language instruction.
- Devin Local, "our next-generation agent harness shared with Devin CLI," with subagents, OS-level sandboxing, Normal, Plan and Ask modes, git worktree sessions and a Quick Review subagent.
- Agent Command Center, a Kanban board grouped by status that shows local agents and cloud Devin sessions running on their own VMs.
- Third-party agents over ACP. Through the Agent Client Protocol, Pro, Max and Teams users can run agents such as Codex CLI, Claude Agent, Gemini CLI, OpenCode and Junie inside the Command Center.
On models, Devin Desktop recommends Fusion, which pairs a frontier lead model with a cheaper sidekick, and offers Cognition's SWE-2 alongside Claude, GPT and Gemini models. Free tier users get SWE-1.6 only.
Claude Code vs Windsurf side by side
| Claude Code | Windsurf (Devin Desktop) | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Anthropic | Cognition |
| What it is | Coding agent | AI code editor |
| Main home | Terminal, plus VS Code and JetBrains extensions, desktop app, web | Desktop editor, plus Devin CLI |
| Main way of working | Tasks you delegate to an agent | Editing with Tab (Supercomplete or Autocomplete), plus agents |
| Local agent | Claude Code | Devin Local |
| Cloud agent | Claude Code cloud sessions | Devin sessions on their own VMs |
| Multi-agent view | Subagents, plus cloud sessions on web and mobile | Agent Command Center, with ACP agents |
| Models | Claude models | Fusion, SWE-2, Claude, GPT, Gemini |
| Project instructions | CLAUDE.md, or AGENTS.md if there is no CLAUDE.md |
.devin/rules/*.md (or .windsurf/rules/), AGENTS.md, and CLAUDE.md through Devin Local |
| Project skills folders | .claude/skills/ |
.devin/skills/ (or .windsurf/skills/), .agents/skills/ |
| Entry paid price | Claude Pro, $20 a month | Pro, $20 a month |
How do rules and skills carry over?
Instructions. Claude Code reads CLAUDE.md at the start of every session, and its memory docs say it reads AGENTS.md when there is no CLAUDE.md or CLAUDE.local.md in your working directory or above it. Devin Desktop feeds AGENTS.md into its rules engine: a root file is an always-on rule, and one in a subfolder applies to files inside it. Its own rules are .md files in .devin/rules/ with a trigger field.
Devin Local uses the Devin CLI rules system, and Devin's rules docs list CLAUDE.md as "Compatible with Claude Code," read globally from ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. They also say Devin CLI "reads from the .claude/ directory." So a repo set up for Claude Code mostly carries over. A shared AGENTS.md is the cleanest option for both.
Skills. Both support Agent Skills, folders with a SKILL.md file. Claude Code loads skills from .claude/skills/ in the project and ~/.claude/skills/ for personal ones. Devin's CLI skills docs list .agents/skills/, .devin/skills/ and .windsurf/skills/ in the project, plus ~/.agents/skills/ and ~/.config/devin/skills/ globally. The Claude Code skills guide covers writing them.
Can you use Claude Code and Windsurf together?
Yes, and in more than one way:
- The extension. Anthropic's VS Code docs say the Claude Code extension "also installs in forks like Devin Desktop or Kiro." Search for "Claude Code" in the Extensions view or install it from Open VSX.
- The terminal. Run
claudein Devin Desktop's built-in terminal, like in any editor. - ACP. Devin Desktop lists Claude Agent among the agents it can run in the Agent Command Center. Devin's docs note that with an external ACP agent, "billing is directly between you and the third-party agent provider."
That lets you keep Devin Desktop's Tab and editor while handing larger tasks to Claude Code.
How much do Claude Code and Windsurf cost?
Prices below are as of October 2026.
- Claude Code (pricing): included in Claude Pro at $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually; Max from $100 a month; Team standard seats at $20 per seat per month billed annually or $25 monthly. The Free plan does not include Claude Code.
- Devin Desktop (pricing): Free with unlimited Tab completions and a light agent quota; Pro at $20 a month with full model availability and Devin Cloud; Max at $200 a month with much higher quotas; Teams at $80 a month for the team plan plus $40 per full seat; Enterprise on contract. Extra usage is billed at API pricing.
Which should you pick?
Claude Code tends to fit when:
- You want to hand off whole tasks and review the result.
- You work in the terminal or over SSH, or want the same agent in VS Code, JetBrains, a desktop app and the browser.
- You prefer Claude models and Anthropic's own permission modes.
- You already pay for a Claude plan.
Windsurf (Devin Desktop) tends to fit when:
- You want an editor with strong Tab completions and inline edits.
- You want to pick between Claude, GPT, Gemini and Cognition's SWE models.
- You want one Kanban view of local agents, cloud Devin sessions and third-party agents.
- You liked Windsurf and want to keep your settings.
Both have a way in without a big commitment: Devin Desktop has a free plan, and Claude Code installs into Devin Desktop, so you can try them side by side on a real task.
Keep your prompts and skills portable
Whatever editor or agent you use, your skills and prompts are worth keeping somewhere you own. Kipt stores them as Markdown in a private GitHub repo, and installs every skill into Claude Code or Codex with one npx skills add command. To turn a prompt you keep reusing into a skill folder, try the free SKILL.md generator.