The delegation engineering stack
For engineering teams treating AI as headcount: work assigned, executed and reviewed, not just assisted.
The full delegation spectrum in one stack. An AI-first editor for the code engineers actively shape, a terminal agent that executes scoped tasks against the repository, a plan-bundled delegate running parallel cloud tasks where the team already pays for ChatGPT, Devin Cloud as the autonomous engineer for the work nobody is watching, and Devin Desktop as the command centre where local and cloud agents are dispatched, monitored and reviewed together. The constraint stops being typing speed and becomes review capacity, which is exactly what the command centre is for.
The stack, step by step
- 01
Cursor
Steer by hand: deep codebase context and agentic multi-file edits for the work engineers own directly.
Cursor is where engineers steer multi-file changes by hand against an indexed codebase; Claude Code takes the scoped briefs and executes them in the terminal, tests and commands included. The editor holds the work the team owns directly, and the agent absorbs what can be specified and reviewed.
- 02
Claude Code
Delegate by ticket: whole tasks briefed with context and constraints, executed in the repo while you review.
Swap options- GitHub Copilot when routing scoped issues to an agent inside the GitHub flow the team already licenses feels lighter than terminal-driven briefs See the comparison
Claude Code delegates from the terminal; OpenAI Codex adds a second lane, running parallel tasks in isolated cloud environments and reviewing pull requests, bundled into the ChatGPT plan many teams already pay for. Together they cover local, steerable delegation and cloud-parallel throughput.
- 03
OpenAI Codex
Delegate from the plan you hold: parallel cloud tasks and pull-request review inside the ChatGPT ecosystem.
Swap options- GitHub Copilot when the organisation is not standardised on ChatGPT and wants its cloud delegation and pull-request review GitHub-native instead See the comparison
Codex runs delegated tasks you still glance at; Devin takes the work nobody is watching, planning, writing, testing and opening the pull request in its own environment, several sessions in parallel. It is the assign-and-forget end of the spectrum, and it demands well-scoped tickets and review capacity.
- 04
Devin Cloud
Assign and forget: Devin Cloud is the autonomous engineer that works well-scoped backlog items in its own environment, from brief to pull request, with nobody watching.
Devin works out of sight, which is what makes the fleet hard to see; Devin Desktop is where it becomes visible again. The same company's local IDE doubles as the command centre, dispatching, monitoring and reviewing local and cloud agents in one place, so review capacity keeps pace with what the team has delegated.
- 05
Devin Desktop
Watch the fleet: Devin Desktop is the supervision surface, an agent command centre where the team's local and cloud agents, this stack's included, are dispatched, monitored and reviewed in one place.
What it costs
Enterprise economics: per-seat licences plus usage-based agent consumption that tracks how much you actually delegate. The bill scales with delegation, which, run well, is the cheapest engineering capacity you buy.
| Tool | Entry tier | What drives cost up |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Free tier + paid plans | Hobby (free); Pro ($20/mo); Pro+ ($60/mo, 3× usage); Ultra ($200/mo, 20× usage); Teams ($40/user/mo). |
| Claude Code | Paid only | Included with Claude Pro ($20/mo), Max ($100/$200/mo) or Team Premium; or pay per token via the API (Opus 4.8 $5/$25 per million input/output tokens). |
| OpenAI Codex | Paid only | Included with paid ChatGPT plans rather than priced separately; the Free tier allows only quick exploration, without cloud tasks or the most capable models. Usage is credit-metered following the April 2026 repricing, with local and cloud work sharing five-hour rolling windows and weekly limits possible; additional credits can be bought when limits bite, and sustained heavy delegation is the standard reason to size the plan up. |
| Devin Cloud | Paid only | Usage-based pricing tied to agent working time; well-scoped tasks are economical, vague ones are not. |
| Devin Desktop | Free tier + paid plans | Free tier for individuals; paid plans per user per month with credit allowances for premium model use. |
Compare the members
Written comparisons between these tools and their nearest substitutes.
Built for
The three tiers of this stack
Ready
The starter coding stack
For developers getting their first leverage from AI, without changing editors or spending anything.
Competitive
The agentic coding stack
For developers who want AI across the whole workflow, from keystroke to delegated task.
World-Class · this stack
The delegation engineering stack
For engineering teams treating AI as headcount: work assigned, executed and reviewed, not just assisted.
Common questions
What does this stack actually cost per month?
Two of the five tools have a free tier to start; Claude Code, OpenAI Codex and Devin Cloud are paid from day one. The 03 COSTS table above breaks down each tool's pricing. The meters that climb are the usage-based ones: Codex's credit metering, Devin's billing against agent working time, and the usage-pool spend behind Cursor's and Devin Desktop's premium model use. Vague scoping bites first, since a loosely briefed autonomous task burns compute for a poor result. Budget the delegation, not just the seats.
Do I need all five tools from day one?
Rarely. Cursor and Claude Code together cover steer-and-delegate, and many teams run on that pair for a long time. The numbered steps double as the adoption order along the delegation spectrum: add OpenAI Codex (open-source CLI, closed-weight model) where ChatGPT is already licensed and parallel cloud tasks help; bring in Devin Cloud once a well-specified backlog and spare review capacity both exist; add Devin Desktop when supervising several agents at once becomes the constraint.
I already use GitHub Copilot. What changes?
A GitHub Copilot subscription already covers inline completion, chat and an agent for scoped issues in the GitHub flow: keep it for that, and defer heavier tools until the work justifies them. What this stack adds is the delegation spectrum Copilot does not reach: Cursor's hand-steered multi-file editing, Claude Code's briefed terminal execution, Devin Cloud's genuinely unattended work, and Devin Desktop supervising the whole fleet.
Where do these tools overlap, and which wins?
Cursor and Claude Code both make agentic multi-file changes against your codebase, the one real overlap here. The dividing rule is who holds the wheel. Cursor wins for work engineers steer by hand: the code they own directly, shaped edit by edit. Claude Code wins once a task can be written as a brief and handed off, run in the terminal while you review. The Cursor and Claude Code comparison, linked above, covers the finer calls.
When is this stack too much?
Sometimes, and this tier says so plainly. It assumes AI is run as headcount: autonomous agents working unwatched in parallel, with a command centre supervising the fleet. Two signs it is too much: the backlog is not scoped tightly enough to hand an unattended agent, so Devin's economics never pay off; or review capacity is not yet the bottleneck, so steering agents still beats supervising them. That position wants the competitive tier, the agentic coding stack.
What can I safely put into these tools?
The strictest member sets the floor: proprietary code goes in only once every tool is on the right tier. Enable Cursor's team privacy mode; run Claude Code through commercial or API access, since consumer plans train on inputs unless you opt out; and put Codex on a plan whose training and retention terms you have read. Scope Devin Cloud's credentials like a contractor's, and reserve Devin Desktop's enterprise-grade controls for its Enterprise plan, not Team. Until then, keep confidential material out.
Before sharing confidential or personal data, check this tool's data-governance and training policies. They differ between providers and can change.
Last checked: July 2026
Where to start
Not sure what to adopt first?
Five quick questions about your job, task and constraints. We'll suggest your top three tools, plus the one to try first.
Tool facts last checked July 2026