Agent command center and IDE vs a local process dashboard
Official product sites
Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf. It combines a full VS Code-based IDE with an Agent Command Center for local and cloud coding agents. Devin Local is its first-party local agent, while ACP support adds Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode, and compatible custom agents. SWE-1.7, Supercomplete, MCP, and live previews round out the editing workflow. It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Solo is a desktop app for managing local processes — dev servers, CLI agents, queues, and shell sessions — in one dashboard with command restart policies, notifications, and shared configuration through solo.yml.
Choose Devin Desktop when you want an IDE and multi-agent command center. Choose Solo when you want a separate local workspace for agents and long-running project commands.
Choose Devin Desktop when you want the IDE to coordinate local and cloud coding agents. Choose Solo when you want local agents and project commands in a separate process workspace.
Solo fits best when you want local agents, shell sessions, services, and shared project commands visible in one dedicated app instead of folded into editor tabs.
Devin Desktop fits when you want Devin Local, Devin Cloud, ACP-compatible agents, MCP, previews, and editing in one workspace.
| Feature | Solo | Devin Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Local process dashboard for agents and project commands | Full IDE and command center for local and cloud coding agents |
| Replaces your editor | — | Yes — VS Code fork with extension support |
| Built-in AI agent | — | Yes — Devin Local, plus Devin Cloud and ACP-compatible third-party agents |
| Agent management | First-party local agent processes plus MCP coordination | Agent Command Center for local and cloud agents |
| AI model choice | Uses installed agent CLIs; no bundled model | SWE-1.7 and supported frontier models, plus ACP agents |
| Tab completion | — | Yes — Supercomplete with terminal-aware context, Tab to Jump, Tab to Import |
| MCP integration | Yes — exposes an MCP server for external tools | Yes — curated one-click setup for GitHub, Slack, Figma, databases, and more |
| Live previews | — | Yes — in-editor UI preview for frontend development |
| Local process dashboard | Yes — sidebar with CPU/memory stats per process | IDE panels and terminal, but not a dedicated process supervisor |
| Auto-restart for project commands | Yes — self-exit and file-watch restarts with rate limiting | — |
| Process notifications | Yes — native desktop notifications, in-app toasts, and OSC escape sequences | Agent attention and IDE notifications |
| Use your own local agents | Supported agents get first-party status and session features; other CLIs run as generic processes | Yes — Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode, and compatible ACP agents |
| Shared project command config | solo.yml — version-controlled, team-shareable | Workspace settings and MCP config, but not a process manifest |
| Open source | — | — |
| Free tier | 4 projects and 20 processes | Free with a light usage quota, limited models, and unlimited Tab |
| Paid plans | Pro plan | Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo, Teams $80/mo plus $40/mo per full seat, Enterprise custom |
| Product identity | Solo | Devin Desktop — formerly Windsurf |
| Platform | macOS and Windows | macOS, Windows, Linux |
Solo is a native desktop app that gives you one dashboard for all the commands a project needs running locally. It does not bundle a code editor or AI model.
Devin Desktop is the current name for Windsurf. It is a VS Code-based IDE and agent command center from Cognition.
Solo does not bundle an AI model. It runs supported CLI agents as first-class processes alongside generic commands.
Devin Desktop manages several agent types from one interface.
Solo manages long-running background commands outside the editor.
Devin Desktop documents IDE and coding-agent workflows rather than a generic project-process supervisor.
Solo and Devin Desktop are complementary.
Devin Desktop can remain the coding and agent-command surface while Solo manages the broader local project environment.
Devin Desktop sells AI and agent usage across individual and team plans. Solo is a separate local workflow tool.
Solo pricing lens
Solo has a free tier for up to 4 projects and 20 processes, with Pro above that.
Devin Desktop pricing lens
New-user plans include Free, Pro at $20 per month, Max at $200 per month, Teams at $80 per month plus $40 per full seat, and Enterprise. Legacy Windsurf pricing may carry over.
Decision shortcut
If your current editor already works, Solo adds process management without requiring an IDE change.
Moving from Devin Desktop to Solo is an unbundling move, not a direct editor replacement.
Devin Desktop combines a full IDE with local, cloud, and third-party coding agents. Solo is not an editor or cloud-agent service; it provides a separate local workspace for supported CLI agents and project commands, with command restart policy, notifications, resource visibility, and shared configuration. Use either for its layer, or connect them through Solo's MCP server.
Solo is a lightweight desktop terminal workspace for local agents, project commands, interactive terminals, and long-running services. It sits beside your editor, keeps your stack visible, and gives Claude Code, Codex, and the rest of your tools one shared local control surface.
Solo is built by Aaron Francis, creator of faster.dev and Database School, and VP of Marketing at Laravel. He built Solo after running Claude Code alongside his own dev stack and getting tired of juggling nine terminal tabs just to keep local agents, services, and project commands visible.
He is also a dad to two sets of twins, which tends to create a strong preference for software that reduces chaos instead of adding more of it. That is why Solo keeps showing up in these comparisons as the local workspace around your tools, not another editor or orchestrator trying to absorb the whole workflow.
Related comparisons
If you are evaluating Solo, Devin Desktop, these are the closest next comparisons in the matrix.
Start with one project and a small task. These guides walk through the setup and what to check when the work finishes.
Set up both tools in one project, give one agent implementation work, and ask the other to review the diff.
Read the guide →Give a lead agent a plan, shared todos, and a scratchpad so workers have clear assignments and a useful handoff.
Read the guide →Put a Laravel server, Vite, and a queue worker in solo.yml, then manage their output and restart behavior in Solo.
Read the guide →The Free plan includes every feature, so you only need Pro after you outgrow four projects.
Team seats
Buy seats under one Stripe subscription, then share a claim link in Slack or email. Each claimant signs in or registers and receives a normal Solo Pro license. Optional auto-grow adds prorated seats automatically when the pool is full, so your team never hits a license wall.
Seats 1–3
$99/seat/yr
Seats 4–10
$89/seat/yr
Seats 11–50
$79/seat/yr
Seats 51+
$69/seat/yr
Brackets apply per seat — a 10-seat team pays $99 each for seats 1–3 and $89 each for seats 4–10.
Free for four projects on macOS and Windows.
Start with a terminal and add the programmable meta-harness when you need to coordinate agents with your local development stack.
“I can't live without it.”
