Cline vs Sourcegraph Cody
Compare Cline and Sourcegraph Cody 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.
Sourcegraph Cody
Sourcegraph Cody is strongest when paired with Sourcegraph Enterprise and large-scale code search. It is less suitable as a personal AI coding tool now that Cody Free and Cody Pro have been discontinued.
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.
Sourcegraph Cody is an enterprise AI coding assistant focused on codebase-aware chat, code edits, completions, and context retrieval across large multi-repository environments.
Pricing
open-source
enterprise
compare.fields.localModels
Yes
No
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Cline | Sourcegraph Cody |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Sourcegraph Cody is an enterprise AI coding assistant focused on codebase-aware chat, code edits, completions, and context retrieval across large multi-repository environments. |
| Type | extension | extension |
| Editor base | VS Code | VS Code |
| Pricing model | open-source | enterprise |
| Starting price | $0 | $16000 |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | No |
| 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, Visual Studio, Sourcegraph Web, Cody CLI, GitHub, GitLab, Sourcegraph Cloud, Sourcegraph self-hosted |
| Models | Cline Provider, Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, GCP Vertex, Groq, Cerebras, Vercel AI Gateway, DeepSeek, Local models, OpenAI-compatible providers | Claude Opus 4.5, Gemini 3 Pro, GPT-5.1, OpenAI 4.1, OpenAI 4.1-mini, OpenAI 4.1-nano, OpenAI o3, OpenAI o4-mini, Google Gemini 2.5 Flash Preview, Google Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Amazon Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Google Cloud Vertex AI |
| 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 | Sourcegraph Enterprise support, Single-tenant cloud, Self-hosted deployment, Enterprise admin and security controls, SSO and RBAC through Sourcegraph platform, Context Filters, Cody Gateway, Enterprise model selection, Org-wide AI credit pooling, Sourcegraph Code Search integration, MCP Server access, GraphQL and REST APIs, CLI access, 24x5 support with upgrade options |
| 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 | Enterprise teams with large monorepos or multi-repository architectures, Organizations already using Sourcegraph Code Search and code intelligence, Developers who need AI answers grounded in remote repository context, Security-conscious teams that need context filtering and enterprise controls, Teams that want AI assistance inside existing IDEs rather than switching editors |
| 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 | Individual developers looking for a low-cost personal AI coding assistant, Teams that want a standalone AI-native editor, Users looking for a fully autonomous coding agent that takes issues end-to-end, Organizations that do not plan to deploy or buy Sourcegraph Enterprise, Developers who need local model execution as a primary feature |
Use Case Winners
Both Cline and Sourcegraph Cody have comparable signals here.
Cline supports local model workflows.
Cline lists more team or enterprise controls.
Both Cline and Sourcegraph Cody have comparable signals here.
Sourcegraph Cody supports more model/provider options or BYOK-style workflows.
Both Cline and Sourcegraph Cody 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.
Sourcegraph Cody
- Sourcegraph EnterpriseFrom $16K
Enterprise platform plan that includes credits for AI features and scales with team size.
- Cody EnterpriseContact sales
Enterprise-supported Cody access for Sourcegraph customers; Cody Free, Cody Pro, and Enterprise Starter Cody access were discontinued in 2025.
- Volume AI CreditsCustom
Additional volume credit buckets are available as add-ons for AI feature usage.
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.
Sourcegraph Cody
Cody collects prompts and responses to provide the service, and Sourcegraph documentation says it does not use user data to train models. Sourcegraph AI Terms state that Sourcegraph and partner LLMs do not use customer code to train models, and partner LLMs use zero-retention handling for inputs, outputs, and candidate context when accessed through Sourcegraph Partner LLMs. Enterprise teams should review AI Terms, Context Filters, Cody Gateway, model routing, self-hosting, and codehost permissions before rollout.
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 Sourcegraph Cody if...
- Enterprise teams with large monorepos or multi-repository architectures
- Organizations already using Sourcegraph Code Search and code intelligence
- Developers who need AI answers grounded in remote repository context
- Security-conscious teams that need context filtering and enterprise controls
- Teams that want AI assistance inside existing IDEs rather than switching editors
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 Sourcegraph Cody if...
- Individual developers looking for a low-cost personal AI coding assistant
- Teams that want a standalone AI-native editor
- Users looking for a fully autonomous coding agent that takes issues end-to-end
- Organizations that do not plan to deploy or buy Sourcegraph Enterprise
- Developers who need local model execution as a primary feature