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Cline: reviews and analysis
The open source agent for VS Code that runs on whatever model you give it.
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Our verdict
Cline puts a complete agent inside VS Code without asking you to switch editors or subscribe: an open source extension, your API key and a flow that shows each step before applying it. That transparency is its signature against the more autonomous agents. Cost depends on the model you connect, and with frontier ones the API bill grows fast if unwatched.
Best for: VS Code users who want a transparent agent without a subscription.
What changed this week
Sweep of
No substantive change from the previous sweep: what we checked this week confirms what was already there.
- no change
- no change
We have tracked it since July 25, 2026: 3 sweeps on record. We publish the latest change here; the full series is not published.
What the internet says
Nothing essential changed this week: the price and the contradiction between its pricing page, which says there are no subscriptions, and Cline Pass, which is one at $9.99 a month after the first month, stay the same. The agent hang while running terminal commands, opened on 1 August 2026, remains without a reply or a fix. The repo shipped ten releases between 2 and 6 August, so the development pace holds.
What the web repeats in favour
- The extension is still free and Apache-2.0: you bring your key and pay the model provider, with no middleman
- Every agent action is visible and approvable, with planning and acting kept as separate modes
- It is no longer just an extension: there is a command line with a headless mode, an SDK and a desktop app, plus JetBrains and VS Code derivatives
- It switches providers without friction, including local models served from your own machine
What the web repeats against
- It hangs on the thinking step when running terminal commands: the report opened on 1 August 2026 remains without any reply or fix, and there are more duplicate cases of the same pattern since July
- Cost stays variable unless you pay its flat fee, and that fee only covers open weight models, not the top-end ones from the big providers
- By not indexing the repo it reads more context each turn, which on large codebases means more tokens and more spend
- In February 2026 an unauthorised version of its command line was published to npm because a credential was not rotated properly, with an added install the vendor describes as non-malicious and an exposure window of roughly eight hours
- Its pricing page still says there are no subscriptions while its own menu links to the one it sells, and that mixed message makes it harder to know what you pay
Sweep sources: Official pricing · Official pricing · GitHub · GitHub · Docs · Press · App stores
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Free, open source and inside VS Code
- Shows and asks approval step by step
- Model of your choice, cheap ones included
Cons
- The API bill with frontier models grows fast
- Less polished than commercial tools
TLDR: Cline puts a complete agent inside VS Code without asking you to switch editors or subscribe: an open source extension, your API key and a flow that shows every step before applying it. That transparency is its signature against the autonomous agents. Cost depends on the model you connect, and with frontier ones the API bill grows fast unwatched.
What Cline is and how it works
Cline was born as the open answer to a specific question: why switch editors or pay a subscription to have an agent, when VS Code takes extensions and API keys exist. The extension installs a complete agent in the usual editor: it takes tasks, reads the project, proposes edits, runs commands and uses the browser when the task calls for it.
Its philosophy distinguishes it as much as its price: every action is presented before executing. You see each edit’s diff, each command before it runs, and you approve or correct step by step. For anyone distrustful of agents that do twenty things and show the result, that supervised rhythm is exactly what they want.
It works with the key of whichever provider you choose (frontier, cheap, local models), and its ecosystem of extensions and tool servers connects it to whatever your flow needs.
What it is like day to day
Daily life is that of a disciplined copilot: you describe the task, the agent proposes its plan and advances asking approval at each relevant step. That rhythm has two faces: maximum visibility and control, in exchange for more clicks than the autonomous agents. With trust earned, the auto-approval modes speed up the routine.
Cost is the variable you manage: with an economical model, tasks cost cents. With frontier ones, a long agent session (which reads plenty of context and iterates) produces API bills that surprise the careless. The community has developed a whole optimization culture (models per task, contained context) that is part of the craft of using it.
Against Cursor, the comparison is package versus parts: Cursor sells the integrated experience by subscription, Cline gives the agent free and you supply model and configuration.
Pricing and plans
The extension is free and open source, with no plans. You pay the API consumption of whichever model you connect, with total control: switching models is a dropdown, and tuning cost per task is part of the flow.
For directed use with economical models, it is among the cheapest routes to a real agent. For intensive use with frontier ones, the bill can exceed subscriptions, and there it pays to compare against plan-included agents like Claude Code.
Who it is for (and who it is not for)
Cline is for VS Code users who want an agent without switching editors or subscribing: control of the model, the cost and every step. Also for anyone needing local models or specific providers by data policy.
It is not for anyone wanting the polished zero-configuration experience, nor for anyone preferring to delegate without step-by-step supervision, which is the autonomous agents’ ground.
Cline alternatives
Aider is the veteran equivalent in the terminal. Cursor is the paid integrated package. They are in Cline alternatives and the ranking in the best AI coding tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to use?
The extension, nothing. The API consumption of the model you pick: cents per task with economical models, serious bills with frontier ones on long sessions. That dial is yours to control, and it is the product’s point.
What happened to Roo Code?
The fork that shared Cline’s base shut down in May 2026 and its repository sits archived. Cline is now the open reference in VS Code, and much of that community has come back here.
Does it approve every step always?
By default it shows and asks approval on every relevant action, and the auto-approval modes relax that rhythm once trust is earned. The supervision dial is yours to set.
Does it work with local models?
Yes, and it is one of its cards: connecting a model running on your machine gives an agent with no per-token cost and no data leaving home, in exchange for the capacity of whatever model you can run.