Claude Code vs Devin Desktop
Pricing
Claude Code: Included in all paid Claude plans (Pro $20/mo, Max $100-200/mo) or pay-as-you-go via the Anthropic API
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $20/mo | Includes Claude Code; $17/mo when billed yearly |
| Max | From $100/mo | Includes Claude Code with higher usage; 5x and 20x tiers |
| Team Standard seat | $25/mo per seat | 2 to 150 seats, includes Claude Code; $20 per seat billed yearly |
| Team Premium seat | $125/mo per seat | Higher usage per seat, includes Claude Code; $100 per seat billed yearly |
Prices checked on the vendor's page
Devin Desktop: Free tier, Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 member, light agent quota, limited models |
| Pro | $20/mo | 1 member, higher quotas, frontier and open-source models |
| Max | $200/mo | 1 member, significantly higher quotas than Pro |
| Teams | $80/mo plus $40 per seat | Up to 200 users, own quota per full seat |
Prices checked on the vendor's page
Description
Claude Code: Anthropic's AI coding tool that reads your entire codebase and makes changes across files, from your terminal, IDE, desktop app or browser
Devin Desktop: AI IDE (formerly Windsurf) with an agent mode (Cascade) and a command center for running local and cloud coding agents across your project
Best for
Claude Code: Solo developers who want an agent that edits code across a whole repository from the terminal or IDE
Devin Desktop: Solo developers who want an AI editor that also runs local and cloud coding agents
Pros
- Understands large codebases better than most, with a 1M token context window on current models
- Terminal-native means it fits into git workflows without friction
- Genuinely good at multi-file refactoring and complex tasks
- Cascade agent mode handles multi-file changes without hand-holding
- Agent Command Center lets you start, track and review several local and cloud agents from one board
- Free tier with unlimited Tab completions and inline edits, enough to evaluate before paying
Cons
- API costs add up fast on big projects: a heavy session can cost $5-20
- The $20 Pro plan is pitched at short coding sprints in small codebases; heavier use means Max at $100-200/mo
- No free tier; requires a paid Claude plan or an Anthropic Console account
- Had a messy 2025: acquisition talks with OpenAI fell through, and talent split between Google and Cognition
- Smaller community means fewer tutorials and troubleshooting resources
- Context window can hit limits on larger projects
Details
Claude Code works directly with your git repo. It runs in your terminal, and also as a VS Code or JetBrains extension, a desktop app, and in the browser at claude.ai/code. You describe what you want changed, it reads the relevant files, makes edits, and can even run your tests to check its work.
Where it really shines is tasks that touch many files at once. “Rename this concept across the whole project” or “add TypeScript types to all these API routes” is the kind of tedious refactoring that would take you hours. The catch is cost. Every paid Claude plan includes it, starting with Pro at $20/month, and the Max plans at $100-200/month give you much more usage for a fixed price. You can also run it on the Anthropic API through a Console account and pay per token, but heavy usage on a large codebase can get expensive.
Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf, the AI IDE that started as Codeium’s editor. It is now made by Cognition, the company behind the Devin coding agent. It still combines regular code completion with Cascade, an agent mode that can plan out multi-step tasks and execute them across your project. Tell it “add user authentication to this app” and it will create files, install packages, and wire things up.
The rename put an Agent Command Center at the front: a board where you run and review local and cloud agents, including Cascade, Codex and Claude Agent, while the full IDE stays available. Pro costs $20/mo and adds higher usage quotas, frontier models and Devin Cloud agents. The company had a turbulent 2025, when a $3B acquisition by OpenAI fell apart and talent ended up split between Google and Cognition, but the product now has a clear owner. If you want a capable AI IDE that can also manage several coding agents at once, it is worth trying.
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