Cline
Visit Cline →About Cline
Cline (formerly Claude Dev) is an open-source autonomous coding agent. It started as a VS Code extension and has since expanded into a JetBrains plugin, a CLI, an SDK, and a native desktop app for macOS and Windows. It operates in a step-by-step approval loop: the agent proposes each action — create file, run command, open browser — and the user approves before execution, making it more transparent than fully autonomous tools.
The current extension version is 4.1.21. The project has 69.5K GitHub stars and 5,479,213 VS Code Marketplace installs as of late September 2026, making it one of the more widely adopted open-source coding agents.
Cline supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) natively, including an MCP marketplace for custom tool integrations, and works across multi-root workspaces. It can read and edit files across a full codebase, execute terminal commands, run tests, use a browser for research or end-to-end testing, and delegate work to sub-agents. It offers a catalog of 6,400+ models across 200+ providers, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, AWS Bedrock, OpenRouter, and local models via Ollama.
The core extension, CLI, MCP marketplace, and multi-root workspace support are free and open source; users pay only for AI inference, either by bringing their own API key or by using Cline's own inference provider — running local models via Ollama costs nothing. A separate Enterprise tier adds team collaboration, JetBrains support, SSO, SLA, and dedicated support, but its pricing is not published and requires contacting sales.
Limitations include a step-by-step approval workflow that can slow down complex multi-file tasks compared to fully autonomous tools, output quality that depends entirely on the LLM configured, inference costs that are managed and paid separately from the tool itself, and Enterprise pricing that is not transparent.
Cline suits developers who want a powerful autonomous coding agent inside their existing editor, or as a standalone CLI or desktop app, without switching to a new IDE, and who prefer transparent step-by-step control over fully autonomous execution. Teams needing SSO or dedicated support can use the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
- 69.5K GitHub stars and 5.48M VS Code Marketplace installs — widely adopted open-source coding agent
- Available across VS Code, JetBrains, CLI, and a native desktop app, not limited to one editor
- Step-by-step approval keeps the developer in control of every action
- Native MCP support with an MCP marketplace for custom tool integrations
- Model catalog of 6,400+ models across 200+ providers, plus free local models via Ollama
- Approval-based workflow can slow down complex multi-file tasks
- No proprietary model — quality depends entirely on your chosen LLM
- Inference costs (BYOK or Cline's own provider) are managed and paid separately from the tool
- Enterprise tier pricing is not publicly listed and requires contacting sales
- Less polished UX than commercial tools with dedicated design teams
Choose Cline if…
- ✅ You want an autonomous AI agent that plans and executes multi-step tasks across your codebase
- ✅ You use your own API key (or Cline's own inference provider) and want flexibility across 200+ model providers
- ✅ You work on complex refactoring where AI needs to edit across many files in sequence
- ✅ You prefer open-source tools with full transparency into what the AI is doing
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