Cline Review, Pricing & Alternatives (2026)

Cline is an open source coding agent from Cline Bot Inc. The project was created in July 2024 and is distributed through a VS Code extension, CLI, desktop app, JetBrains plugin, and SDK. Its GitHub repository lists the Apache License 2.0 and more than 70,000 stars. Cline’s July 2025 funding announcement says the company raised $32 million across seed and Series A rounds. The agent is built for developers who want to inspect code, edit files, run commands, and choose model providers. The same core supports editor work, terminal sessions, desktop use, and embedded applications. The client is free for individual developers, while AI inference can use Cline credits, ClinePass, or a developer’s own provider credentials.

Cline reads project files, writes code, runs terminal commands, uses a browser, and works with external tools. A typical task can begin in Plan mode, where the developer reviews an approach, then move to Act mode for implementation. The interface asks for approval before actions, while auto-approve can reduce interruptions. File edits appear as diffs, and checkpoints support undoing agent changes. Project rules in .clinerules files describe coding standards, architecture, testing, and deployment conventions. MCP servers add tools for databases, APIs, and infrastructure. Cline also supports plugins, skills, messaging connections, scheduled tasks, headless automation, and multi-agent workflows. The CLI supports interactive and headless operation, making the same agent available for local development, scripting, and CI work.

Cline supports several model-access paths rather than requiring one model provider. Its documentation lists Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Ollama, LM Studio, OpenAI-compatible endpoints, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, and Google Vertex. Developers can use provider keys, local runtimes, or Cline’s own usage-billing provider. Recent October 2026 releases added handling for GPT-6-style OpenAI and Azure requests, refreshed the catalog from 6,952 to 7,041 models, and added CommandCode and Reflection providers. SDK 0.0.95 again recommended Claude Sonnet 5.5 through the Cline provider. The desktop release also updated model defaults and provider support. Because catalogs and defaults change, teams that need repeatable behavior should select and test specific models rather than rely on changing recommendations.

Cline’s open source extension, CLI, desktop app, and SDK are free for individual developers. The pricing page says there are no subscriptions or seat fees for the open source version, but model inference is separate. Cline usage billing uses credits on a pay-as-you-go basis, supports more than 100 models, and includes some free options. Developers can instead bring their own keys and pay providers directly. ClinePass costs $9.99 per month and offers two to five times the usage of selected open coding models compared with standard API rates. Enterprise pricing is Custom and adds centralized billing, team management, role-based access control, SSO, SCIM, audit logs, VPC deployments, SLA, support, and provider controls. Total cost therefore depends on provider, model, context, and task volume.

Cline still requires review of generated edits, shell commands, model output, checkpoints, and provider availability. Telemetry is enabled by default in the VS Code and JetBrains extensions, desktop app, and CLI, although users can turn it off. Requests made through Cline or ClinePass can include prompts and model responses in Cline’s handling of those providers, while requests using other providers go to those providers under their policies. Cursor is a closer commercial editor competitor, GitHub Copilot is closely tied to GitHub workflows, and Windsurf is another agentic coding product. Cline suits developers who want Apache-licensed code, provider choice, local runtimes, and explicit action approval. Teams wanting a managed editor subscription with bundled model access may prefer Cursor, Copilot, or Windsurf.