Devin AI by Cognition

Devin is an AI-powered coding assistant developed by Cognition, designed to function as an autonomous software engineer capable of handling complex coding tasks with minimal human intervention.

Unlike traditional AI code editors that assist developers by providing suggestions or auto-completions, Devin operates with a higher degree of autonomy. It can independently execute tasks such as writing, running, and testing code, thereby reducing the need for constant human oversight. This capability allows engineering teams to delegate repetitive or large-scale tasks to Devin, enabling human engineers to focus on more strategic aspects of development.

In comparison, Cursor is an AI-powered code editor that enhances the developer’s experience by integrating AI functionalities directly into the coding environment. Cursor offers features like multi-line code suggestions, smart rewrites, and AI-assisted terminal commands, all aimed at augmenting the developer’s productivity within an Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

While Cursor serves as an intelligent assistant to the developer, Devin positions itself as a full-fledged autonomous AI development teammate, capable of independently executing complex coding tasks, including large-scale code refactoring and migration projects.

Devin’s subscription is priced at $500 per month, which includes unlimited seats, access to its Slack integration, IDE extensions, API, and dedicated support from the Cognition engineering team. While this cost is pretty substantial, it’s important to evaluate it against the potential productivity gains and cost savings.

For instance, Nubank utilized Devin for a large-scale code migration project, achieving an 8x improvement in engineering time efficiency and over 20x cost savings compared to manual efforts. So, for organizations undertaking substantial and repetitive coding tasks, Devin’s capabilities could justify the subscription expense through enhanced efficiency and reduced project timelines.