Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) vs Codestral (Mistral)

Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) edges out Codestral (Mistral) by 0.5 points (7.5 vs 7.0) -- a B-tier vs B-tier split that's narrow but real. Not a blowout; both belong on a shortlist. The score gap shows up most clearly in the categories that matter for Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)'s strengths, so if those categories are your priority, the lead translates.

Pricing-wise, both tools have a free tier (Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) starts $0, Codestral (Mistral) starts $0.30 / $0.90), so you can test either without committing. Compare what each free tier actually unlocks -- usage caps, model access, and feature gates differ a lot more than the headline price suggests, especially as both vendors have tightened limits in 2026.

By use case: pick Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) when developers who want agent-first coding (background + inline) inside a familiar vs code-based editor, and who value cognition's devin integration as a core part of the workflow. Pick Codestral (Mistral) when developers and teams who want a cheap, low-latency fim model for ide autocomplete via api, or enterprises that want mistral's coding stack deployed in their own vpc or on-prem, particularly those with eu vendor or data-residency preferences. The two tools aren't fighting for the same person -- they're aiming at adjacent jobs that occasionally overlap. If you're squarely in Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)'s lane, the tier-list ranking and the use-case fit point the same direction; if you're in Codestral (Mistral)'s lane, the score gap matters less than the fit.

Bottom line: Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) is the safer default for most readers, but Codestral (Mistral) is competitive enough that the tie-breaker is your specific workload, not the spec sheet.