How to choose between Windsurf and Cursor
Choose between Windsurf and Cursor by the editor people already open, who reviews a diff, and who approves a terminal command. The current getting-started page on docs.windsurf.com describes Devin Desktop and says the install package was renamed from windsurf. Neither set of docs ranks the two. Write the choice against the workflow.
On this page
Start from the editor already open
Note which editor people already open, where a diff is reviewed, who may approve a terminal command, and which paths stay excluded. Leave those four unwritten and it is too early to compare the products.
If the team already delivers through Custom software, websites, and applications, the tool has to leave its diff in the review you already run. The Copilot comparison is in How to choose between Cursor and GitHub Copilot. Continue and Cursor are covered in How to choose between Continue and Cursor. This note covers the editor whose current docs still live on the windsurf host, and Cursor.
What the current pages call Windsurf
On 14 October 2026, https://windsurf.com/ returned no page. The current guide is the getting-started page. Its title is Welcome to Devin Desktop, and it says you can import VS Code or Cursor settings. The Linux install section says the repository URLs still use the pre-rebrand windsurf name, the package is now devin-desktop, and windsurf remains a transitional package that pulls in devin-desktop. The uninstall section says installs from before the rename may still sit in a Windsurf folder until the full installer runs again. The page shows no publish date.
The same page says Devin Desktop requires a Devin account and that you can sign up. It also says you cannot install extensions through any marketplace, and that other AI code-complete extensions and proprietary extensions are incompatible. This note does not quote plan prices. The docs also include a model picker. This note does not compare models.
What Cascade does in the docs
The current Cascade page describes Cascade as Devin Desktop’s agent, opened with Cmd/Ctrl+L. Code mode can create and modify the codebase. Chat mode is for questions, and it may propose code you can accept and insert. The page says Devin Desktop has two local agents, the other being Devin Local, and that a new tab defaults to Devin Local when you have not chosen a preferred agent. The page shows no publish date.
The same page lists tools that include search, analyze, web search, MCP, and the terminal. By default, Cascade can make up to 40 tool invocations per prompt. At that limit, the continue button resumes from where it stopped, and each continue counts as a new prompt credit. The default of devin.autoContinue in settings is also 40. The page shows no publish date. This note does not quote a price for credits. A revert is started from the original prompt, and the page says reverts are currently irreversible. You can also create a named checkpoint in the conversation. Paths to exclude go in .devinignore at the workspace root, or in the legacy .codeiumignore.
Four levels of automatic commands
The current terminal page says the auto-execution levels apply to Cascade. Devin Local uses its own permissions, with allow, ask, and deny. Cascade’s four levels are Disabled, where every command waits for a person; Allowlist Only, where only listed commands run on their own; Auto, where the agent judges whether a command may run on its own, and the page says this level is only for messages sent with premium models; and Turbo, where every command runs immediately except those on the deny list. The page shows no publish date.
The same page says the deny list takes precedence: a command on both lists still waits for a person. On Teams and Enterprise, an administrator can set a maximum level so members cannot pick a wider one. Leave out any command that installs a dependency, pushes to a remote, changes a database, or deletes files. How to draw the directories is covered in How to connect an AI coding tool to an existing codebase.
What Cursor Agent and Tab do
The current Cursor docs home describes Cursor as a coding agent for building software: understanding a codebase, planning and building features, fixing bugs, reviewing changes, and working with tools you already use. The same page lists connections that include GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, JetBrains, Slack, and Linear. The page also has a model and pricing table. This note does not compare models and does not quote prices. The page shows no publish date.
The current Cursor Agent page describes Agent as an assistant that can complete complex coding tasks, run terminal commands, and edit code, opened from the side pane with Cmd+I. The page says there is no limit on tool calls during a task. A checkpoint is created before significant changes, stored locally, and kept separate from Git. Restoring it reverts files and does not delete the conversation. The page says to use checkpoints only to undo Agent changes, and to use Git for lasting version control. The page shows no publish date. The Cursor Tab page describes Tab as autocomplete from recent edits, surrounding code, and linter errors. That page shows no publish date. How autocomplete and an agent split a task is covered in What is the difference between an AI coding agent and autocomplete.
Choose from the workflow you already run
When the team already works in the editor the current docs call Devin Desktop, start from Cascade’s Code and Chat modes and from the terminal auto-execution level. The adoption note names whether people open Cascade or Devin Local, because the two pages describe different command rules. Forty tool calls is the default cap on the Cascade page. The Cursor Agent page says a task has no cap on tool calls. Both sentences follow current pages that show no publish date. This note does not treat either sentence as the better limit.
When review already happens inside Cursor’s editor, start from Agent and Tab. Treat a checkpoint as a local snapshot for undoing Agent edits. The merge still goes through Git and the review you already run. The Cascade page says a revert is currently irreversible, so write who may press it and how Git restores the previous version afterwards. This note does not treat the rename, or any combination, as the better one.
When to leave the choice for later
If the reviewer, the command-approval rule, and the excluded directories are still unwritten, leave every agent off a repository that can change the main branch. Leave Turbo off, and leave off any level that would run a delete or a push on its own.
This note does not compare speed, defects, or licence cost. Aside from the 14 October 2026 check of windsurf.com, the product pages cited above show no publish date. Until you have your own review record, check the choice by whether the editor is the one people already open, whether the diff entered review, and whether commands were approved under the rule.