Cline vs Continue
Compare Cline and Continue by workflow, pricing, privacy, model support, and best use cases.
Cline
Choose Cline when you want an open-source, human-approved coding agent inside your existing editor and terminal with strong model flexibility and MCP extensibility. Choose a hosted AI IDE if you want predictable bundled pricing and a polished all-in-one editor, or a CLI agent if you prefer terminal-only Git workflows.
Continue
Choose Continue when model control, open-source extensibility, and repository-defined AI checks matter more than a fully managed AI editor experience.
Key Differences
Workflow
Cline is an open-source, model-flexible AI coding agent for developers who want agentic file editing, command execution, browser use, MCP tools, and human-in-the-loop control inside existing development environments.
Continue is an open-source AI coding agent and IDE extension ecosystem focused on configurable model access, repository-defined AI checks, and team-controlled coding workflows.
Pricing
open-source
freemium
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Cline | Continue |
|---|---|---|
| Primary workflow | Cline is an open-source, model-flexible AI coding agent for developers who want agentic file editing, command execution, browser use, MCP tools, and human-in-the-loop control inside existing development environments. | Continue is an open-source AI coding agent and IDE extension ecosystem focused on configurable model access, repository-defined AI checks, and team-controlled coding workflows. |
| Type | extension | extension |
| Editor base | VS Code | VS Code |
| Pricing model | open-source | freemium |
| Starting price | $0 | $3 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | Yes |
| BYOK | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, JetBrains IDEs, CLI, macOS, Windows, Linux, Antigravity, Zed, Neovim via ACP mode, Cline SDK, Kanban | VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, CLI, GitHub |
| Models | Cline Provider, Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, GCP Vertex, Groq, Cerebras, Vercel AI Gateway, DeepSeek, Local models, OpenAI-compatible providers | Anthropic, OpenAI, Azure, Amazon Bedrock, Ollama, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral, xAI, Vertex AI, Inception, HuggingFace, Groq, Together AI, DeepInfra, OpenRouter, ClawRouter, Tetrate Agent Router Service, Cohere, NVIDIA, Cloudflare, MiniMax, LM Studio, llama.cpp, LlamaStack, llamafile, SambaNova, Watson x, Sagemaker, Nebius |
| Enterprise features | JetBrains extension, SSO, SLA, Dedicated support, Centralized billing, Simple configuration management, Role-based access control, Limit inference providers, Team management dashboard, Authentication logs, Advanced configuration management, Fine-grained permissioning, OpenTelemetry, Datadog integration, Grafana integration, Splunk integration, API access for enterprise features | Shared private agents, Team agent controls, Gmail/GitHub SSO on Team, SAML or OIDC SSO on Company, BYOK on Company, Commitment, invoicing, and SLA on Company, GitHub PR check integration, Centralized Mission Control management |
| Best for | VS Code users who want an open-source coding agent, Developers who want BYOK model control, Teams experimenting with MCP tools, Multi-file refactoring, Test-driven bug fixing, Browser-assisted UI debugging, Terminal-driven development, Local and self-hosted model experiments, Developers who want a human-approved agent instead of fully autonomous changes, Teams building custom workflows on an agent SDK | Developers who want AI coding assistance inside VS Code without switching to a full AI-native editor., Teams that want AI review rules stored in the repository and enforced as PR status checks., Organizations that need model flexibility across cloud, local, self-hosted, and gateway providers., Developers building custom coding agents with YAML configuration, rules, prompts, models, and tools., Engineering teams experimenting with AI quality gates before adopting larger autonomous coding systems. |
| Not best for | Users who want a simple fixed-price AI IDE subscription, Developers whose main need is inline autocomplete, Non-technical users looking for prompt-to-app web builders, Teams that cannot allow AI tools to run terminal commands, Organizations that need turnkey enterprise controls without custom setup, Users who do not want to manage API keys, inference credits, provider choice, or local models | Users who want a polished all-in-one AI IDE with minimal configuration., Teams that prefer a single vendor-managed model and billing experience., JetBrains-heavy teams that need the IDE plugin to be the primary supported path., Users who do not want token-based billing for hosted model usage., Organizations that are uncomfortable with the current read-only status of the legacy main GitHub repository. |
Use Case Winners
Both Cline and Continue have comparable signals here.
Both Cline and Continue have comparable signals here.
Cline lists more team or enterprise controls.
Both Cline and Continue have comparable signals here.
Continue supports more model/provider options or BYOK-style workflows.
Both Cline and Continue have comparable signals here.
Pricing Comparison
Cline
- Open Source$0
Free for individual developers. Use the open-source extension, CLI, and supported local workflows; pay only for model inference.
- Cline ProviderUsage-based
Unified billing through Cline with credits and supported hosted models, including free model options where available.
- Bring Your Own KeyUsage-based
Use your own API keys from providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, Vertex AI, Groq, Cerebras, Vercel AI Gateway, DeepSeek, and others.
- Local Models$0
Run local or self-hosted models where supported; actual cost depends on local hardware and chosen model.
- EnterpriseCustom
Adds JetBrains support, SSO, SLA, dedicated support, centralized billing, RBAC, team management, provider controls, authentication logs, and advanced configuration options.
Continue
- Open-source Extension / CLI$0
Apache-2.0 codebase with VS Code extension, CLI, and JetBrains plugin artifacts available from official channels.
- Starter$3 / million tokens
Pay-as-you-go usage for creating and running agents, integrations, and frontier model credits.
- Team$20 / seat/month
Team management, private shared agents, agent controls, Gmail/GitHub SSO, and $10 credits per seat.
- CompanyCustom
Enterprise plan with SAML or OIDC SSO, BYOK, commitments, invoicing, and SLA.
Privacy & Security
Cline
Cline runs client-side in the user’s development environment, but prompts, code context, terminal output, browser data, and tool results may be sent to the selected model provider or Cline Provider depending on configuration. Cline’s terms say telemetry data may include non-code metadata and is enabled by default but can be disabled in extension settings. BYOK privacy depends on the selected third-party provider, so users should avoid exposing secrets, customer data, private keys, production credentials, or regulated data through prompts, terminal output, browser sessions, MCP tools, or local files included in context.
Continue
Continue documents anonymous telemetry in the open-source extensions, says it strips personally identifiable information, and provides opt-out controls for IDE extensions and the CLI. Local and offline setups are documented, but privacy also depends on the chosen model provider, GitHub integration, telemetry settings, and any configured data destinations.
Choose Cline if...
- VS Code users who want an open-source coding agent
- Developers who want BYOK model control
- Teams experimenting with MCP tools
- Multi-file refactoring
- Test-driven bug fixing
Choose Continue if...
- Developers who want AI coding assistance inside VS Code without switching to a full AI-native editor.
- Teams that want AI review rules stored in the repository and enforced as PR status checks.
- Organizations that need model flexibility across cloud, local, self-hosted, and gateway providers.
- Developers building custom coding agents with YAML configuration, rules, prompts, models, and tools.
- Engineering teams experimenting with AI quality gates before adopting larger autonomous coding systems.
Avoid Cline if...
- Users who want a simple fixed-price AI IDE subscription
- Developers whose main need is inline autocomplete
- Non-technical users looking for prompt-to-app web builders
- Teams that cannot allow AI tools to run terminal commands
- Organizations that need turnkey enterprise controls without custom setup
Avoid Continue if...
- Users who want a polished all-in-one AI IDE with minimal configuration.
- Teams that prefer a single vendor-managed model and billing experience.
- JetBrains-heavy teams that need the IDE plugin to be the primary supported path.
- Users who do not want token-based billing for hosted model usage.
- Organizations that are uncomfortable with the current read-only status of the legacy main GitHub repository.