Cursor vs Devin
Cursor is built on top of VS Code, so most keyboard shortcuts, extensions, and themes carry over — the learning curve is mainly about the AI features layered on. Tab handles intelligent multi-line completions, Cmd+K rewrites selected code inline, and Chat can answer questions about your whole project rather than just the open file. The free tier includes a limited number of fast premium-model requests per month; heavy daily use typically requires the $20/mo Pro plan, and very large codebases can slow down the context-indexing step. Recent updates added Cloud Agents for running longer tasks remotely, Origin for hosting and reviewing code changes, and improved Git support at scale.
Devin, from Cognition Labs, is marketed as an AI software engineer: you assign it a coding task — a bug fix, a small feature, a dependency upgrade — and it works in its own sandboxed environment with its own shell, code editor, and browser, planning and executing the steps needed, then opening a pull request for a human to review. It integrates with GitHub, Slack, and Linear so it can fit into an existing team's workflow rather than requiring a separate tool. There's no free tier; usage is billed via "ACUs" (Agent Compute Units) starting around $20/mo for a limited allowance, and complex or long-running tasks can consume credits quickly. Devin works best on well-scoped, clearly defined tasks — ambiguous or very large tasks still benefit from human breakdown first, and all output should go through normal code review before merging.
| Cursor | Devin | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Coding | AI Agents |
| Price | Free / $20mo | From $20/mo |
- + Full codebase context
- + VS Code compatible
- + Excellent autocomplete
- + Inline edit mode
- – Expensive for heavy users
- – Slower on large codebases
- + Handles multi-step engineering tasks with less hand-holding
- + Works in an isolated sandbox with its own tools
- + Integrates with GitHub, Slack, and Linear
- + Opens PRs for normal human review
- – No free tier; usage-based ACU pricing can get expensive
- – Best suited to well-scoped tasks
- – Output still requires careful human review