Windsurf Is Now Devin Desktop: What Changed for Australians

Updated: 25 June 2026 · Category: Coding & Development

What changed

The Windsurf code editor no longer exists under that name. On 2 June 2026, Cognition — the company behind the Devin coding agent — renamed Windsurf to Devin Desktop and folded it into the wider Devin platform (devin.ai blog, checked 25 June 2026). If you had Windsurf installed, the change arrived as an ordinary over-the-air update: same plan, same pricing, same extensions and keybindings, new name and a new default screen.

The short version of the back story: Windsurf began life as the Codeium-backed AI editor, was the subject of a collapsed OpenAI acquisition and a Google deal for its founders through 2026, and was ultimately picked up by Cognition. The 2 June rename is the tidy-up — Cognition putting one brand over everything it now owns.

We have published two reviews that touch this product, and the naming has confused readers. This update reconciles them.

What Devin Desktop is now

Devin Desktop is the downloadable code editor you run on your own machine — the old Windsurf app. It is still a VS Code fork, still backwards-compatible with your VS Code extensions and settings, and it still drives an AI agent that reads your codebase, plans multi-file changes and runs terminal commands while you review the diffs.

Two things are genuinely new since the rename:

• The Agent Command Center is now the default screen. Instead of opening straight onto the editor, Devin Desktop opens onto a Kanban-style board for managing several agents at once — local ones running on your machine and cloud ones running on Cognition's. Cognition's own framing is that it has shifted from "a code editor that can call an agent" to "an agent-management hub that contains a full editor" (devin.ai blog).
• Cascade is being retired for Devin Local. Cascade — the agent that powered Windsurf — is replaced by Devin Local, a from-scratch Rust rewrite that Cognition says is up to 30% more token-efficient and can run sub-agents in parallel. The legacy Cascade agent works only through 1 July 2026, so any script or workflow that calls Cascade by name needs repointing before then (devin.ai blog).

The key thing for anyone weighing the tool up: "Devin" is now one product family across several surfaces, not a single app. Cognition's line is "one Devin, every surface." The same agent and the same login run across Devin Desktop (the editor you drive yourself), Devin Cloud (the autonomous agent that runs whole tasks unattended on its own cloud machine), Devin CLI (the same agent in your terminal) and Devin Review (code review on diffs). Desktop also now supports the open Agent Client Protocol (ACP), so third-party agents — Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode — can run inside it too.

Current pricing (USD, no AUD billing)

Pricing has not changed with the rename — the same plans cover both the Desktop editor and the Cloud agent on a single subscription. Devin bills in USD only; there is no AUD option and no GST line stated on the pricing page, so treat the AUD figures below as a guide that builds in 10% GST at roughly the current exchange rate, and confirm the tax treatment at checkout (devin.ai/pricing, checked 25 June 2026).

Two points worth holding onto. First, the cloud agent now starts at Pro (US$20/month) — the autonomous "hand it a whole ticket" capability that used to sit higher up the range is bundled into the same US$20 plan as the editor. Second, usage runs on daily and weekly quotas; go past them and you pay at API rates, which on heavy days can add up. Cognition has also moved its in-house model on from SWE-1.5 to SWE 1.6, free to use on paid plans.

Which review should I read?

This is the part readers keep getting wrong, so plainly:

• Want a code editor you drive yourself? That is Devin Desktop — the former Windsurf. Read our Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) review. Scored 14/25 — Good. This is the page to start on if you live in VS Code and want an AI editor on your own machine.
• Want to hand whole tickets to an agent that works unattended? That is the Devin cloud agent. Read our Devin review. Scored 13/25 — Good.

They are two genuine products, not a duplicate. They share a subscription and the same underlying agent, but you use them differently — one you sit inside and supervise, the other you brief and walk away from. Both reviews already carry the rebrand context, so neither is stale; this update simply settles which name maps to which tool.

Does it change our recommendation?

No score change to either review. The rename is a branding and packaging move, not a capability or Australian-fit shift. Both products remain USD-only with no Australian data region, no stated GST line, and no Privacy Act documentation — the same reasons both sit at "Good" rather than higher, and the same reasons most non-technical Australian small businesses should look elsewhere first. If you handle sensitive Australian customer data, the offshore processing point in both reviews still stands.

For an Australian developer already comfortable in VS Code, the honest summary is unchanged: the tool is capable, the Pro plan at ~A$28/month is reasonable, and you are betting on a product that has changed hands more than once in a year. For everyone else, our best AI coding tools roundup and Cursor review are the better starting points.

Reviewed by Adam for The AI Directory Australia.

Read next

• Devin (cloud agent) review — the autonomous half of the same subscription
• Cursor review — the main rival for an AI code editor
• How we score AI tools — our review methodology

Sources

1. Cognition / Devin blog — "Windsurf is now Devin Desktop" (rebrand date 2 June 2026; Agent Command Center as default surface; Devin Local replaces Cascade, ~30% more token-efficient, Rust rewrite, sub-agents; Cascade legacy through 1 July 2026; "one Devin, every surface" — Desktop, Cloud, CLI, Review; ACP support for Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode) — devin.ai/blog/windsurf-is-now-devin-desktop — Wayback: capture at publish — checked 25 June 2026
2. Devin plans and pricing (Free US$0; Pro US$20/mo with Devin Cloud access and free SWE 1.6; Max US$200/mo; Teams US$80/mo base + US$40/mo per full seat; Enterprise custom; USD throughout, daily/weekly quotas, extra usage at API pricing) — devin.ai/pricing — Wayback: capture at publish — checked 25 June 2026

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