Claude Code vs Continue: pricing, features and which to choose

Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool, launched in June 2025. It reads repositories, edits files, runs commands, and operates through the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, desktop app, and web. The product targets developers working on features, bugs, tests, dependency updates, migrations, and release tasks. Anthropic added Claude Code to enterprise offerings in August 2025 after first making it available through individual accounts. Anthropic does not publish a standalone Claude Code user count or funding figure. The company said in March 2026 that Claude Code's run-rate revenue had surpassed $2.5 billion, although TechCrunch reported that figure as a company statement rather than a user metric. The product remains active, with frequent releases and changing model availability.

A typical session starts in a project directory or connected repository. The developer describes a task, Claude Code examines relevant files, proposes a plan, edits files, runs tests or shell commands, and reports results. It can stage changes, write commit messages, create branches, and open pull requests. Developers can guide behavior with CLAUDE.md files, skills, hooks, permissions, and MCP connections to services such as Jira, Slack, or Google Drive. GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD support automated review and issue triage. Desktop and web sessions add visual diff review, parallel cloud tasks, and scheduled work. The agent can spawn subagents, but command approvals, test results, generated edits, and security findings still need engineering review.

Claude Code suits developers who can review diffs, run tests, manage permissions, and control token spending. It is less suitable for unattended production changes, deterministic analysis, or users who only want inline completion. GitHub Copilot CLI offers a closer GitHub-centered alternative, Gemini CLI emphasizes Google's tooling and models, and Cursor remains more editor-centered. Claude Code's strongest case is repository-wide work combining planning, file edits, shell commands, tests, Git, and external tools. Its main tradeoffs are shared subscription limits, changing model access, and the need to inspect generated work. Pick Claude Code if terminal or repository-wide agent workflows matter more than lightweight autocomplete.

Continue is an open source coding agent project for editors, terminals, and pull requests. Founded by Ty Dunn and Nate Sesti, it launched in 2023 and entered Y Combinator’s Summer 2023 batch. It began with VS Code and JetBrains extensions, then added a command line interface and repository based agents. Continue’s homepage says it joined Cursor, while the open source codebase remains freely available. A June 2026 report described the hosted product as wound down, with users given until July 15, 2026 to export data. That change matters because Continue is no longer best understood as an independent vendor with a stable commercial roadmap. It is better viewed as an Apache 2.0 codebase and technology handoff for teams willing to manage configuration, providers, permissions, and ongoing operation themselves.

A typical workflow begins with installing the VS Code or JetBrains extension, choosing model providers, and assigning roles for chat, edit, apply, autocomplete, embeddings, and reranking. Developers can add repository rules, context providers, prompts, tools, and markdown agent files. The CLI runs an agent locally with a command such as cn --agent. GitHub Actions can discover agent files, run them in parallel, write job summaries, and create separate Check runs. Agents can read files and run commands, so the documented workflow recommends scoped GitHub permissions, secret based API keys, local testing, and review before enabling write actions. This makes Continue useful for teams that want repository controlled instructions and pull request checks, but less suitable for buyers seeking managed agents with little configuration or operational responsibility.

Continue offers more provider control than GitHub Copilot and keeps agent definitions close to repository code. Cursor is the closest commercial comparison and now owns Continue, while Claude Code is a stronger terminal first alternative with a more defined product identity. Gemini CLI offers another terminal workflow, and Goose targets configurable open source agents. Continue’s acquisition makes independent direction and hosted availability uncertain, and its agents can read files and run commands, requiring permission review and human checking. Pick Continue if Apache 2.0 code, local models, provider choice, repository based agents, and source controlled GitHub workflows matter more than a supported standalone subscription. Choose Cursor instead for a commercial integrated editor, or Claude Code for a clearer terminal first product with less emphasis on maintaining the surrounding codebase.