Devin CLI vs Cursor CLI
Both are a vendor's agent without the GUI. One names your sessions and keeps them in a single machine-wide database; the other is an editor's agent that happens to run in a terminal.
Updated September 12, 2026 · Independent comparison — Devin CLI, Cursor CLI are separate products.
Devin CLI
Cognition's terminal agent, running SWE-2
Devin CLI is Cognition's terminal agent — the same Devin, driven from a prompt instead of a browser. It installs as a single `devin` binary from cli.devin.ai (or the `devin-cli` Homebrew cask) and runs SWE-2 by default, with effort levels selectable from a `/model` picker. It is unusually tidy about where it lives: config goes to `~/.config/devin` — XDG even on macOS, which no other major agent does — and data to `~/.local/share/devin/cli`. Sessions are the distinctive part. Instead of a UUID per directory, Devin keeps one SQLite database for the whole machine with the working directory as a column, and names each session something human like `quiver-socks`, so you can list and resume work from any project on the box. It reads skills and AGENTS.md rules from both your user directory and the project, and installs MCP servers into its own config.
Cursor CLI
Cursor's agent, without the editor
Cursor CLI is the terminal form of Cursor's agent, shipping as a `cursor-agent` binary with the same Agent, Plan and Ask modes as the editor. It is included with every Cursor plan from the free Hobby tier upward, so there is no separate CLI subscription, and it runs headless via `agent -p` for scripts and CI as well as interactively. Its model catalogue is the wider of the two: Cursor's own Composer 2.5 and the Grok models on a generous first-party pool, plus Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM and Kimi metered at API list rates on a smaller one, switchable mid-session. At the ceiling Cursor does not stop — it offers on-demand usage billed in arrears. What it does not do is give the CLI an identity of its own: it is one surface of a Cursor account, sharing the same pools as the editor.
Bottom line
Cursor CLI wins on models and Devin CLI wins on session management, and neither gap is close. Cursor gives you Composer 2.5, Grok, Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM and Kimi with mid-session switching, a documented headless flag for CI, and a free Hobby tier — but the CLI is one surface of a Cursor account, sharing credit pools with the editor and publishing very little about how it stores state. Devin CLI runs SWE-2 by default and is free to try in the terminal through October 10, 2026, and it is the more thoughtfully built terminal program: XDG config and data roots kept separate, one SQLite database covering every project on the machine, human-readable session names like quiver-socks you can resume from anywhere, no alternate screen so your scrollback survives, and a permission mode that takes a value rather than a yes-or-no switch. Pick Cursor CLI if you want to choose your model. Pick Devin CLI if you want to find the session you were in yesterday.
Access & Pricing
| Feature | Devin CLI | Cursor CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes — Devin's free plan | Hobby (free), CLI included |
| Entry paid plan | $20/month (Devin Pro) | $20/month (Cursor Pro) |
| Separate charge for the CLI | None — the Devin plan covers it | None — included with every plan |
| Billing model | Daily and weekly usage allowances | Credit pools metered per prompt |
| Behaviour at the ceiling | Overage consumed at API pricing | Never hard-stops — on-demand usage billed in arrears |
| Current promotion | SWE-2 free in Desktop and CLI through October 10, 2026 | None published |
| Usage visible in the CLI | Header shows plan, percent remaining and reset time | Not published |
Models
| Feature | Devin CLI | Cursor CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Default model | SWE-2 High | Composer 2.5 or Auto |
| Model family | SWE-2 and Cognition's catalogue, from your own account | Composer 2.5 and Grok, plus Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM and Kimi |
| In-house model | SWE-2, post-trained from Kimi K3 | Composer 2.5, trained on Kimi K2.5 |
| Switch models mid-session | Yes — the /model picker, effort levels included | ✓ |
| Third-party model cost | n/a — no separate pool published | Metered at API list rates from the smaller pool |
| Listing models from the shell | devin models list --format json | Not published |
| Bring your own API key | ✗ | ✗ |
Sessions & state
| Feature | Devin CLI | Cursor CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Session id format | Human-readable slug, e.g. quiver-socks | Not published |
| Session store | One SQLite database for the whole machine; cwd is a column | Not published |
| Resume across projects | Yes — list and resume sessions from any directory on the box | Not published |
| Rename a session | Yes — /title | Not published |
| Transcript shape | A forest of message nodes; the live tip is the session's main chain | Not published |
| Terminal scrollback preserved | Yes — no alternate screen, so scrollback accumulates | Not published |
Config & extensibility
| Feature | Devin CLI | Cursor CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Config root | ~/.config/devin — XDG, on macOS too | Cursor's account and project config |
| Data root | ~/.local/share/devin/cli — separate from config | Not published |
| Project instructions | AGENTS.md rules, from the user directory and the project | Cursor rules and skills |
| Skills | Yes — user directory and project | Yes — Cursor skills |
| MCP support | Yes — servers install into Devin's own config | ✓ |
| Headless mode for CI | Devin API on paid tiers | Yes — agent -p for scripts and CI |
Install & platforms
| Feature | Devin CLI | Cursor CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Install (macOS / Linux) | curl -fsSL https://cli.devin.ai/install.sh | bash, or the devin-cli Homebrew cask | Bundled with Cursor; standalone installer for cursor-agent |
| Install (Windows) | irm https://static.devin.ai/cli/setup.ps1 | iex | Supported |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Sign-in | devin auth login — the model list is empty until you do | Cursor account |
| Editor integration | Devin Desktop shares the account, not the terminal session | Cursor's own editor, sharing one agent and one account |
| Licence | Proprietary | Proprietary |
Safety & control
| Feature | Devin CLI | Cursor CLI |
|---|---|---|
| First run in a new directory | A blocking workspace-trust picker you must answer | Not published |
| Bypass-everything mode | --permission-mode dangerous — a flag with a value, not a switch | Auto-run mode |
| Approval controls | Permission modes | Command allow and deny lists |
| OS-level sandbox | Not published | Not published |
The Verdict
Choose Devin CLI if...
- ✓You want SWE-2 in a terminal, and free access to it through October 10, 2026
- ✓Named, machine-wide sessions you can list and resume from any project are worth more to you than model choice
- ✓You like an agent that respects XDG and keeps config and data in separate, predictable roots
- ✓You want your usage — plan, percent remaining, reset time — visible in the header while you work
- ✓A blocking workspace-trust prompt on first run in a new directory is a feature, not friction
- ✓You are already paying for Devin and want the same account in the terminal
Choose Cursor CLI if...
- ✓Model choice is the point — Composer 2.5, Grok, Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM and Kimi, switchable mid-session
- ✓You want one account covering an editor, a CLI, background agents, web and iOS
- ✓You need a documented headless flag for CI pipelines today — agent -p
- ✓A genuinely free tier to evaluate before paying matters
- ✓You would rather pay on-demand overage than be throttled
- ✓You already live in Cursor and want the same agent when you drop to a terminal
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Devin CLI cost extra on top of a Devin plan?
No. The CLI is included with Devin's plans, including the free tier, and draws on the same daily and weekly usage allowances as Devin Web and Devin Desktop. Cognition is also giving SWE-2 away free in Devin Desktop and the CLI through October 10, 2026, which makes the terminal the cheapest way to try the model.
How does Devin CLI handle sessions differently?
It keeps one SQLite database for the entire machine with the working directory stored as a column, rather than a tree of state per project. That means you can list and resume any past session from anywhere, and each one carries a human-readable name like quiver-socks instead of a UUID. You can rename a session with /title, and Devin's own listing picks the new name up. Cursor does not publish how its CLI stores session state.
Which one has more models?
Cursor CLI, by a wide margin. It carries Cursor's own Composer 2.5 and the Grok models on a generous first-party pool, plus Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM and Kimi metered at API list rates on a smaller one, all switchable mid-session. Devin CLI runs SWE-2 and whatever else your Devin account exposes, with effort levels selectable from a /model picker — a shorter list, built around one model Cognition trained itself.
Can either run headless in CI?
Cursor CLI documents it directly — agent -p runs non-interactively for scripts and pipelines. Devin's headless story goes through the Devin API on paid tiers rather than a documented flag on the CLI binary, so it is the less direct path if a pipeline is what you are building.
Where does Devin CLI put its files?
Config lives in ~/.config/devin and data in ~/.local/share/devin/cli — XDG paths, used on macOS as well as Linux, which is unusual among coding agents that mostly drop a single dotdir in your home directory. On Windows both sit under %APPDATA%\devin. Note that ~/.devin is not a config root: that is the Outposts worker cache and the Devin Desktop extension directory.
Do I need the Cursor editor to use Cursor CLI?
No — cursor-agent is a standalone binary with the same Agent, Plan and Ask modes as the editor, and it works in any terminal. You do need a Cursor account, since the CLI bills against your plan's credit pools. Devin CLI is the same shape: a standalone binary that needs a Devin account, signed in with devin auth login.
1DevToolBoth CLIs, one window, one set of keys
Devin CLI's strength is session management and a strong in-house model; Cursor CLI's is breadth of models — which is an argument for running both rather than choosing. 1DevTool runs Devin CLI and Cursor side by side with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Grok, Cline, Amp, OpenCode and nine more, each in a persistent tmux-backed terminal on its own subscription, with automatic fallback when one hits a rate limit. It reads Devin's named sessions directly, so the Resume dialog lists them with title, folder and message count from every project on the machine, and subagent history opens on Cursor, Grok and Devin terminals alike. Around them sits a 23-engine database client, an HTTP client and an embedded browser. From $29 one-time, no subscription and no credit pools.