Trae vs Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) (2026): Which Vibe Coding App Is Better?

Both are popular AI code editors. Here is how Trae and Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) stack up on price, strengths and weaknesses, and which one we would pick.

Trae

AI IDE from ByteDance with builder and chat modes

7.2 /10

Pricing: Free plan, paid from $20/mo

Pros

Low price and a free plan
Builder mode for whole features
MCP support

Cons

Data-handling questions for some organisations
Smaller community

Visit Trae ↗

Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)

Cognition's agentic desktop code editor, formerly Windsurf

7.8 /10

Pricing: Free plan, paid from $20/mo

Pros

Cascade agent is good at following your context
Free plan available
MCP and rules support

Cons

Renamed and folded into Devin: features and plans are still changing
Smaller extension ecosystem than Cursor

Visit Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) ↗

Trae vs Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) at a glance

	Trae	Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
Editor score	7.2 / 10	7.8 / 10
Pricing model	Freemium	Freemium
Starting price	$20/mo	$20/mo
Reader upvotes	0	0
Best for	editor	editor
Agent Skills support	No	Yes
Subagents support	No	Yes
MCP support	Yes	Yes
AGENTS.md support	Yes	Yes
Plugins support	No	Yes
Hooks support	No	Yes
Rules support	Yes	Yes
Agent skills in this directory	4	47
Subagents & agents in this directory	5	9
MCP servers in this directory	72	74

Our pick

Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) edges it with a score of 7.8 versus 7.2. Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) is the better fit if you value: cascade agent is good at following your context, free plan available. Choose Trae instead if you need: low price and a free plan, builder mode for whole features.