Smithery vs Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)

Detailed side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right tool

Smithery

🟡Low Code

AI Agents

Smithery is the registry and hosted runtime for Model Context Protocol servers — discover, install and run MCP servers for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf and more.

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Starting Price

Custom
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Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)

🔴Developer

AI Coding

Agentic AI IDE — originally from Codeium, now owned by Cognition and rebranding to Devin Desktop. The Cascade agent does deep-context, multi-file edits with inline diffs.

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Starting Price

Free
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Feature Comparison

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FeatureSmitheryWindsurf (now Devin Desktop)
CategoryAI AgentsAI Coding
Pricing Plans78 tiers97 tiers
Starting PriceFree
Key Features
  • • Searchable registry of thousands of MCP servers with install counts and reviews
  • • One-line install for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, OpenClaw and VS Code
  • • Hosted streamable HTTP runtime for remote MCP servers
  • • Cascade agentic coding workflow inside an AI-native IDE
  • • First-class support for major model providers and premium models
  • • SWE-1.6/SWE model positioning, Fast Context, tab completions, and plan-based Cascade allowances

Smithery - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓Install commands genuinely work first-try across Claude, Cursor and Windsurf.
  • ✓Schema-driven configuration prevents the most common MCP setup errors.
  • ✓Hosted runtime removes ops burden and unlocks cloud and browser-based clients.

Cons

  • ✗Hosted runtime cold starts can be slow on rarely-used long-tail servers.
  • ✗Some catalog entries in the long tail are unmaintained or abandoned.
  • ✗Monetization for free OSS server authors is still an evolving story.

Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) - Pros & Cons

Pros

  • ✓Agentic feel is closer to 'pair-programmer' than Cursor's chat-driven model
  • ✓Multi-file edits with inline diffs are excellent for whole-feature work
  • ✓MCP client support is mature — real tool use, not just chat
  • ✓Devin Cloud access from inside the IDE post-acquisition is a unique combo
  • ✓Enterprise VPC + SAML/OIDC option is rare among agentic IDEs
  • ✓Free tier is still usable for hobby projects

Cons

  • ✗Mid-rebrand to 'Devin Desktop' is confusing — docs, billing, marketplace are inconsistent
  • ✗Cascade is aggressive — when it picks a wrong direction it can break code across many files
  • ✗Pro price rose from $15 to $20/month, and the new $200 Max tier surprised some users
  • ✗Indexer can lag on very large monorepos, slowing the first edit
  • ✗Cursor's UX is still smoother for many users coming from VS Code

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🔒 Security & Compliance Comparison

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Security FeatureSmitheryWindsurf (now Devin Desktop)
SOC2—✅ Yes
GDPR—✅ Yes
HIPAA——
SSO—✅ Yes
Self-Hosted—✅ Yes
On-Prem—✅ Yes
RBAC—✅ Yes
Audit Log—✅ Yes
Open Source—❌ No
API Key Auth—✅ Yes
Encryption at Rest—✅ Yes
Encryption in Transit—✅ Yes
Data Residency—US, EU
Data Retention—configurable
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Review SmitheryReview Windsurf (now Devin Desktop)