Cline vs Windsurf: pricing, features and which to choose

Cline is an open source coding agent from Cline Bot Inc. The project was created in July 2024 and is distributed through a VS Code extension, CLI, desktop app, JetBrains plugin, and SDK. Its GitHub repository lists the Apache License 2.0 and more than 70,000 stars. Cline’s July 2025 funding announcement says the company raised $32 million across seed and Series A rounds. The agent is built for developers who want to inspect code, edit files, run commands, and choose model providers. The same core supports editor work, terminal sessions, desktop use, and embedded applications. The client is free for individual developers, while AI inference can use Cline credits, ClinePass, or a developer’s own provider credentials.

Cline reads project files, writes code, runs terminal commands, uses a browser, and works with external tools. A typical task can begin in Plan mode, where the developer reviews an approach, then move to Act mode for implementation. The interface asks for approval before actions, while auto-approve can reduce interruptions. File edits appear as diffs, and checkpoints support undoing agent changes. Project rules in .clinerules files describe coding standards, architecture, testing, and deployment conventions. MCP servers add tools for databases, APIs, and infrastructure. Cline also supports plugins, skills, messaging connections, scheduled tasks, headless automation, and multi-agent workflows. The CLI supports interactive and headless operation, making the same agent available for local development, scripting, and CI work.

Cline still requires review of generated edits, shell commands, model output, checkpoints, and provider availability. Telemetry is enabled by default in the VS Code and JetBrains extensions, desktop app, and CLI, although users can turn it off. Requests made through Cline or ClinePass can include prompts and model responses in Cline’s handling of those providers, while requests using other providers go to those providers under their policies. Cursor is a closer commercial editor competitor, GitHub Copilot is closely tied to GitHub workflows, and Windsurf is another agentic coding product. Cline suits developers who want Apache-licensed code, provider choice, local runtimes, and explicit action approval. Teams wanting a managed editor subscription with bundled model access may prefer Cursor, Copilot, or Windsurf.

Windsurf was an agent-native code editor made by Cognition. The product launched in November 2024, after the company began as Exafunction in 2021 and rebranded to Codeium in 2022. Codeium became Windsurf as a company in April 2025, and Cognition signed an agreement to acquire the product, intellectual property, trademark, business, and team on July 14, 2025. Cognition described a business with $82 million in annual recurring revenue, more than 350 enterprise customers, and hundreds of thousands of daily active users. On June 2, 2026, Windsurf became Devin Desktop, unifying the editor with Cognition's Devin products while retaining the editor, extensions, workflows, settings, and familiar development experience for existing users.

The workflow combines a VS Code-style editor with extensions, language servers, terminals, Git tools, previews, worktrees, project context, and agent sessions. A developer can open a repository, let the context engine index relevant files, ask an agent to plan a change, review proposed edits, and run commands or tests in the integrated terminal. Tab offers inline suggestions with code jumps and imports, while Command creates or changes code from an inline prompt without premium credits. MCP servers, memories, rules, workflows, skills, and codemaps support larger projects. Agent sessions can run locally, in worktrees, or through Devin Cloud, allowing users to continue editing locally while delegating larger tasks to a cloud agent and reviewing its results from the same desktop workspace.

Quota-based billing is the main limitation because consumption changes with the selected model, task size, complexity, and reasoning requirements, so users seeking a fixed request allowance may find the system difficult to predict. The 2026 transition also changed familiar names from Cascade and Windsurf to Devin Local and Devin Desktop. Cognition's privacy policy says User Content may be used to train, fine-tune, and improve models depending on applicable terms, so teams should review agreements before sending proprietary code. Cursor is the closest editor-focused competitor, GitHub Copilot fits established GitHub and IDE workflows, Tabnine emphasizes enterprise controls, and Replit targets browser-based development. Choose Devin Desktop for local editing, terminals, multiple model providers, and optional Devin Cloud delegation; choose Cursor for a similar AI-first editor or GitHub Copilot for deeper GitHub integration.