Windsurf vs Codeium: Features, Pricing and Verdict

Codeium and Windsurf come from the same company and now live under Cognition's Devin brand. The real choice is the plugin or the full editor.

By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-12T07:27:06+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-12T07:27:06+00:00

Windsurf vs Codeium is a confusing comparison, because the two names come from the same company. Codeium was the original AI code completion tool. Windsurf was the AI-native editor built by the same company. Both now live under Cognition's Devin brand, and the editor is called Devin Desktop. The real choice today is between the plugin that adds completions to your own editor and the full editor built around an AI agent.

Windsurf vs Codeium: The Short Answer

If you want AI completions inside VS Code or a JetBrains IDE, the Codeium plugin, now called the Windsurf Plugin, is the lightweight option. If you want an AI agent that edits many files, runs commands and plans changes, the Windsurf editor, now Devin Desktop, is the serious option. Both share the same pricing. The free plan costs nothing and includes unlimited Tab completions. Pro costs $20 a month and unlocks frontier models and cloud agents.

One warning matters before you choose. The VS Code version of the plugin has not had a new release since June 2025. It still installs and runs, but Cognition's focus is the editor. The JetBrains version is still maintained. Keep that in mind if VS Code is your daily editor.

How Codeium Became Windsurf, Then Devin Desktop

Codeium started as a free AI autocomplete extension for developers. It worked in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, Vim and many other editors. In late 2024 the company launched Windsurf, a full editor built on VS Code with an agentic coding mode called Cascade. In April 2025 the company renamed itself Windsurf. In July 2025, after a reported acquisition deal collapsed, Cognition acquired Windsurf. On June 2, 2026, Cognition renamed the editor Devin Desktop. The old windsurf.com pages now redirect to devin.ai.

The plugin kept the Codeium lineage alive under a new name. On the JetBrains Marketplace it is listed as the Windsurf Plugin, with more than 10 million downloads. On VS Code it is listed as Windsurf Plugin, formerly Codeium, with close to 4 million installs. The JetBrains version received an update on October 3, 2026. The VS Code version's latest release dates from June 2025.

Cascade, the agent that made Windsurf famous, was dropped on September 8, 2026. Devin Local is now the built-in agent in Devin Desktop. The change shows where Cognition is heading. The editor is the product. The plugin is a legacy path for people who refuse to switch editors.

The Plugin: Codeium in Your Own Editor

The plugin adds AI completions to the editor you already use. It suggests code as you type, including whole functions. It offers chat for questions about your code. It works in more than 40 editors, including VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, Vim, Emacs, Eclipse and Jupyter notebooks. You install it from your editor's marketplace and sign in. There is no need to move your project or learn a new interface.

The free tier is the plugin's main strength. Devin Desktop's free plan includes unlimited Tab completions and unlimited inline edits, plus a light quota for agent coding. Model availability is limited on the free plan. The paid Pro plan adds frontier models and a larger quota. For a developer who only wants completions, the free plugin is a genuine product, not a teaser.

The plugin's weakness is its future. Cognition is building the editor, not the plugin. The VS Code version has gone more than a year without an update. It still works today, but it will not get new models or fixes. JetBrains users are in better shape, since that version is still updated.

The Editor: Windsurf and Devin Desktop

Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf, is a full editor built on VS Code. Your extensions, keybindings and settings transfer. The difference is the agent. It can plan a change across many files, edit them, run terminal commands and check the result. That is a different job from autocomplete. Autocomplete finishes your line. The agent finishes your task.

The editor includes Tab completions, inline edits and chat, just like the plugin. It adds cloud agents through Devin Cloud, so work can run beyond your machine. Pro includes access to frontier models from OpenAI, Claude, Gemini and SpaceXAI, plus leading open-source models. It also includes free use of SWE-2, Cognition's coding model. Max raises the usage quota sharply for heavy users.

Usage runs on quotas, not credits. Each paid plan comes with an allowance that refreshes daily and weekly. If you go past it, you can buy extra usage at API pricing. The exact quota numbers are not published, so heavy users should test their workload on Pro before committing to Max.

Windsurf vs Codeium Pricing

Both products bill from the same Devin pricing page. There is no separate Codeium price list any more. The table below shows the current plans.

Pro costs $20 a month, up from $15 before March 2026. Existing users who kept the old plan may still pay the old rate. Teams has a minimum of $80 a month for the plan, plus $40 per full developer seat. No annual price is published, so all prices are monthly.

Which One Should You Pick?

Pick the plugin if you are happy with your editor and only want completions. It costs nothing, installs in minutes and stays out of your way. JetBrains users get the best version of this deal, since their plugin is still maintained. VS Code users should know the plugin is frozen and plan accordingly.

Pick Devin Desktop if you want the agent to do multi-file work. Refactoring across a codebase, adding a feature that touches several files, or wiring up a new service are agent jobs. The free plan lets you test the agent with a light quota before you pay. Pro at $20 a month is the sensible starting point for daily use.

Pick neither if you need a stable, actively developed plugin for VS Code. The VS Code plugin's last release was June 2025. In that case, look at tools whose VS Code extension is still updated. The editor remains the live product in this lineup.

Bottom Line

Windsurf vs Codeium is not a contest between rivals. It is a choice between two forms of the same product line. The plugin gives you free completions in your own editor, but its VS Code version is no longer updated. The editor gives you a full AI agent, frontier models and cloud agents for $20 a month on Pro. Most developers choosing today should try Devin Desktop free first. If the agent earns its keep, Pro is fairly priced. If you only want completions, the free plugin still works, but check the JetBrains version if you can.