Tendril vs Devin
Devin automates a single task end-to-end. Tendril orchestrates a team of agents across your entire project — with Kanban oversight, persistent memory, and BYOK pricing you can afford.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Tendril Our pick | Devin |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-agent orchestration Coordinate multiple AI agents in parallel | ✓ Main agent + parallel sub-agents (Free: 2, Pro: unlimited — hardware-limited) | ~ Single autonomous agent; no parallel agent coordination |
| Persistent knowledge graph Memory that persists across sessions and projects | ✓ Cross-project knowledge graph — agents get smarter over time (Pro) | ~ Context retained within a session; resets between tasks |
| Kanban-native workflow Built-in project board with review gates | ✓ Full Kanban board with To-Do → In Progress → Review → Done | ✗ No built-in project management; task progress shown in chat |
| BYOK support Bring your own API key — no markup on tokens | ✓ Any Claude, OpenAI, or Gemini API key; Free tier is fully BYOK with zero markup | ✗ Proprietary model; no BYOK — all costs billed through Cognition |
| Local-first architecture Code stays local by default | ✓ Desktop app; code executes locally; API calls go directly to your AI provider. GitHub sync is optional. | ✗ Cloud-hosted execution environment; your code runs on Cognition servers |
| Pricing model Cost to get started and scale | ✓ Free (BYOK) or $29/mo Pro — predictable flat fee | ✗ Enterprise pricing starting at $500+/mo; usage-based on top |
| Concurrent project limit Active projects running simultaneously | ✓ 1 project (Free) or as many as your hardware and API allow (Pro) | ~ Single task at a time; multi-task requires separate sessions |
Where Devin wins
We believe in honest comparisons. Here's where Devin genuinely has an edge.
End-to-end autonomous execution
Devin can take a vague prompt and independently browse docs, write code, run tests, and debug — without any human checkpoints. For teams that want to hand off a task completely, that level of autonomy is genuinely impressive.
Deep single-task specialization
On complex, well-defined single-task problems — like "migrate this codebase from v1 to v2 of this library" — Devin's depth of autonomous reasoning is hard to match. It was built specifically for that use case and it shows.
Where Tendril wins
The four dimensions where Tendril is purpose-built to outperform.
Parallel agents, one sprint
While Devin handles tasks sequentially, Tendril's main agent decomposes your work into subtasks on a Kanban board. Pro users can run as many of those subtasks in parallel as their hardware and API key allow — with each branch reviewed before it merges. Devin has no equivalent structured workflow.
Memory that compounds
Tendril Pro's Knowledge Graph persists your project's architecture, decisions, and patterns across sessions. Agents start each run with context about your codebase instead of starting from scratch. Devin resets context between sessions and doesn't build institutional knowledge about your stack.
Predictable pricing for real teams
At $500+/mo, Devin is priced for enterprise budgets. Tendril is free with your own API key and $29/mo for Pro — making multi-agent orchestration accessible to indie developers and small teams who shouldn't need a procurement process to ship faster.
Your code stays local by default
Devin runs your code on Cognition's cloud servers. Tendril is a local-first desktop app — execution happens on your hardware, your environment, your filesystem. API calls go directly from your machine to your AI provider. GitHub sync is optional and you control it. For security-conscious teams, that's a fundamental difference.
AI agents without the enterprise price tag
Download free — bring your own API key and start building today.
Free tier available — bring your own API key (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google). No credit card required.