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PLAN Free $0/mo PLAN Pro $20/mo PLAN Max $200/mo PLAN Teams $80/mo min + $40/seat Cognition FrontierCode (Oct 28) — score · cost per task Claude Opus 5.5 54.6% · $0.80/task Claude Fable 5 53.5% · $13.09/task Claude Opus 5 53.4% · $4.31/task GPT-6 Astra 53.3% · $4.59/task Claude Sonnet 5.5 52.1% · $1.59/task Claude Fable 5.1 50.9% · $3.28/task GPT-6.1 Sol 50.2% · $0.36/task SWE-2 50.0% · $1.18/task GPT-6 Sol 49.3% · $2.07/task Grok 4.6 48.0% · $2.88/task SWE-1.7 42.0% · $1.97/task SWE-1.6 9.4% · $0.49/task Devin launches Devin Apps, private web tools hosted on its cloud compu… Devin adds free SWE‑2 sessions and desktop access to Teams plan Gemini 4 Hydrogen launches in Devin Desktop and CLI, matching GPT‑6.1 … Basis reduces 20‑hour accounting process to 30 minutes with Devin Clou… Claude Mythos 5.2 added to Devin Security with benchmark score of 73.5 Gemini 4 Carbon added to Devin Desktop and CLI, scores 40% on Frontier… Claude Fable 5.2 added to Devin, leads FrontierCode 2.0 benchmark with… Devin offers 50% off Teams plan for users migrating from competing cod… PLAN Free $0/mo PLAN Pro $20/mo PLAN Max $200/mo PLAN Teams $80/mo min + $40/seat Cognition FrontierCode (Oct 28) — score · cost per task Claude Opus 5.5 54.6% · $0.80/task Claude Fable 5 53.5% · $13.09/task Claude Opus 5 53.4% · $4.31/task GPT-6 Astra 53.3% · $4.59/task Claude Sonnet 5.5 52.1% · $1.59/task Claude Fable 5.1 50.9% · $3.28/task GPT-6.1 Sol 50.2% · $0.36/task SWE-2 50.0% · $1.18/task GPT-6 Sol 49.3% · $2.07/task Grok 4.6 48.0% · $2.88/task SWE-1.7 42.0% · $1.97/task SWE-1.6 9.4% · $0.49/task Devin launches Devin Apps, private web tools hosted on its cloud compu… Devin adds free SWE‑2 sessions and desktop access to Teams plan Gemini 4 Hydrogen launches in Devin Desktop and CLI, matching GPT‑6.1 … Basis reduces 20‑hour accounting process to 30 minutes with Devin Clou… Claude Mythos 5.2 added to Devin Security with benchmark score of 73.5 Gemini 4 Carbon added to Devin Desktop and CLI, scores 40% on Frontier… Claude Fable 5.2 added to Devin, leads FrontierCode 2.0 benchmark with… Devin offers 50% off Teams plan for users migrating from competing cod…

Lesson 1.2 · Meet Devin · 2 of 8

Cloud, Desktop and CLI: where Devin runs

Devin comes as a cloud agent, a desktop editor and a command-line tool. This lesson explains what each one is and how to pick a starting point.

Checked against Devin's documentation on 2026-11-12

After this lesson you can

  • Tell Devin's cloud agent, Devin Desktop and Devin CLI apart
  • Explain how Devin Local relates to Devin CLI
  • Pick the right starting point for how you work

People talk about Devin as one thing. It is one agent family with three ways in, and they differ mainly in where the work runs.

Three ways into Devin, by where the work runs
1Devin in the cloudRuns in a hosted virtual machine. You use the web app, and can walkaway while it works.2Devin DesktopAn editor on your computer with Devin built in. Runs agents locallyand can delegate to the cloud.3Devin CLIA coding agent in your terminal, working on your local files.
Read the steps as text
  1. Devin in the cloud. Runs in a hosted virtual machine. You use the web app, and can walk away while it works.
  2. Devin Desktop. An editor on your computer with Devin built in. Runs agents locally and can delegate to the cloud.
  3. Devin CLI. A coding agent in your terminal, working on your local files.
  1. Devin in the cloud. Runs in a hosted virtual machine. You use the web app, and can walk away while it works.
  2. Devin Desktop. An editor on your computer with Devin built in. Runs agents locally and can delegate to the cloud.
  3. Devin CLI. A coding agent in your terminal, working on your local files.

Devin in the cloud

This is the agent from lesson 1.1. It runs in a virtual machine that Cognition hosts, and you work with it in the web app at app.devin.ai. Because the machine is not yours, the session keeps going when you close your laptop.

Devin Desktop

The docs describe Devin Desktop as “an AI IDE with Devin built in.” It is the editor that used to be called Windsurf, and it installs on Mac, Windows or Linux. From one place you can:

  • run Devin Local, an agent that works on your machine with your local files and tools
  • delegate work to Devin in the cloud
  • manage every agent, local and cloud, in the Agent Command Center

Devin CLI

The docs call Devin CLI “a local coding agent that runs directly in your terminal.” It installs with one command on macOS, Linux or WSL:

curl -fsSL https://cli.devin.ai/install.sh | bash

It also connects to the cloud. From the terminal you can create, steer and resume cloud sessions. One limit to know: the docs say the CLI does not yet support Knowledge, Playbooks or Secrets from your Devin account.

Devin Local and the CLI are the same engine

The docs describe Devin Local as a “next-generation agent harness shared with Devin CLI.” That means the same agent modes, permission modes and skills format in both. Learn one and you know the other.

Staying in your own editor

If you use a JetBrains IDE, you can install Devin from the ACP Registry in AI Chat, with no CLI installation needed. ACP is the Agent Client Protocol, a standard way for an editor to run an outside agent. The older Windsurf JetBrains plugin is in maintenance mode, and the docs recommend Devin over ACP.

Which one first?

If you…Start with
want to hand off a task and walk awayDevin in the cloud
want an editor with the agent built inDevin Desktop
live in a terminalDevin CLI
won’t leave your JetBrains IDEDevin over ACP

The rest of this course uses the cloud agent, because it is the quickest way to see Devin finish a whole task.

Check what you learned

3 questions. Nothing is recorded.

  1. 1. Where does Devin's cloud agent do its work?
    Show the answer

    In a virtual machine that Cognition hosts. The docs describe Devin as a cloud-based AI software engineer that runs in a virtual machine.

  2. 2. What do Devin Local and Devin CLI have in common?
    Show the answer

    They share the same agent harness. The docs call Devin Local a “next-generation agent harness shared with Devin CLI.” Same engine, two front doors.

  3. 3. You use a JetBrains IDE and don't want to switch editors. What do the docs recommend?
    Show the answer

    Install Devin from the ACP Registry in AI Chat. Devin can be installed from the ACP Registry with no CLI setup. The older Windsurf plugin is in maintenance mode.

Sources

  1. Introducing Devin — docs.devin.ai
  2. Introducing Devin Desktop — docs.devin.ai
  3. Devin Local — docs.devin.ai
  4. Devin CLI — docs.devin.ai
  5. Devin in JetBrains IDEs — docs.devin.ai

From Devin Central — subscribe for Devin news, features & tutorials. Devin is a trademark of Cognition.