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JackHamr vs Devin
Devin is the best-known autonomous software engineer: hand it a ticket and it comes back with a pull request. JackHamr works the same side of the street, with a different shape: a team of agents that each keep their own machine, run a staged process with approval gates, and do work beyond code. Here is an honest look at where each one is stronger.
Updated September 29, 2026. Devin details from Cognition's published pricing and documentation.
At a glance
What it is
JackHamr
An AI agent orchestration platform. A team of named agents runs the full delivery pipeline on machines the platform hosts.
Devin
An autonomous coding agent (Devin Cloud), plus Devin Desktop, the editor formerly called Windsurf, and a CLI.
Where the work runs
JackHamr
A persistent cloud machine per agent: up to 16 cores, 64 GB RAM, real filesystem, Docker. Files, tools, and running apps survive between tasks.
Devin
Sandboxed cloud sessions for Devin Cloud; your own machine for Devin Desktop and the local agent.
Many agents at once
JackHamr
Boards fan tasks out to as many agents or clones as you like, in queue, clone, or distribute mode.
Devin
Up to 10 concurrent sessions on Pro and Max, unlimited on Teams.
Pricing model
JackHamr
Pay only while agents run: infrastructure at cost with an itemized bill, tokens at provider rates. Free to start, no seats.
Devin
Plans at $0, $20, and $200 a month, or $80 plus $40 per seat on Teams, with daily and weekly quotas and extra usage at API pricing.
Process and approvals
JackHamr
Workflows with stages (spec, plan, build, QA, code review, product review) and approval gates that queue decisions for you.
Devin
Devin plans and executes inside the session; you steer it in chat and review the pull request.
Models
JackHamr
Any model: ours, your own OpenAI or Anthropic keys, or your Claude Code or Codex subscription as the brain.
Devin
Frontier models from the major labs plus Cognition's own SWE models, metered against your plan quota.
Where tasks come from
JackHamr
Chat, boards, schedules, and 1,500+ connected apps granted per agent.
Devin
Slack, Teams, Linear, Jira, and the Devin web app.
Repositories
JackHamr
GitHub, with SSH key and token fallbacks when an org blocks OAuth apps.
Devin
GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, plus custom git providers on Enterprise.
Beyond code
JackHamr
Agents for research, marketing, and ops too, each with its own memory that grows every session.
Devin
Focused on software engineering.
Where JackHamr is stronger
Devin is a very good engineer you assign tickets to. JackHamr is a team: agents with names, machines that stay, a process that checks their work, and a board your whole company can see.
- Machines that stay. Each agent keeps its files, tools, databases, and running apps between tasks, and you can open its VS Code, terminal, or browser any time.
- A process, not just a session. Spec, plan, build, QA, and review run as separate agents, and approval gates queue the calls that need you.
- Pricing you can see. Infrastructure at cost on an itemized bill and tokens at provider rates. No quota to ration, and no seats.
- Any model. Use ours, bring your own keys, or plug in your Claude Code or Codex subscription.
- More than code. Agents for research, sales, and ops, with 1,500+ apps granted one agent at a time.
Where Devin is stronger
Being fair about this matters, so here is when we would point you to Devin on its own.
- Your team lives in Slack, Linear, or Jira and wants to tag an agent on a ticket and get a pull request back.
- Your code is on GitLab or Bitbucket, which JackHamr does not support today.
- You want the autonomous agent and an AI editor (Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf) from one vendor on one bill.
- You need enterprise controls like VPC deployment and FedRAMP-grade compliance.
Or use both
If Devin already handles your ticket-sized fixes, JackHamr is where the bigger work goes: a feature that needs a spec you approve, a long-running environment that should not be rebuilt every session, or work outside the repo like research and ops. Each tool does what it is shaped for.
You can read how agents run the pipeline in The guided build workflow, and how parallel work is dispatched in Boards: a Kanban board your agents run.
Questions people ask
Is JackHamr a Devin alternative?
Yes, for teams that want more than a ticket-to-PR agent. Both run autonomous agents in the cloud. JackHamr adds persistent machines per agent, staged workflows with approval gates, boards for parallel work, and agents for non-code work, with pay-while-running pricing instead of plan quotas.
Is Windsurf the same as Devin now?
Yes. Cognition acquired Windsurf in 2025, and on June 2, 2026 the editor was renamed Devin Desktop. Its Cascade agent was replaced by Devin Local on July 1, 2026. If you are looking for a Windsurf alternative for autonomous, hands-off work, this comparison applies.
Can I use JackHamr and Devin together?
Yes. Keep Devin on small tickets from Slack or Jira, and give JackHamr the features that need a spec, a plan, QA, and review, or the work that is not code at all. Both open pull requests on GitHub.
When is Devin the better choice?
If your work is ticket-sized, your team already triages in Slack, Linear, or Jira, or your code is on GitLab or Bitbucket, Devin fits with little setup. It is not built around persistent machines, staged approval workflows, or agents for work beyond engineering.
Assign the ticket. Or hire the team.
Free to start. Nothing to install. Running in two minutes.