# Kilo Code: reviews and analysis > Open source agent for VS Code and JetBrains: the tool is free and you only pay for the model. - Canonical: https://serchai.com/en/reviews/kilo-code/ - Site: Serchai (https://serchai.com) — AI tools comparator - Language: en - Updated: 2026-07-28 --- ## Verdict Kilo Code charges nothing for the tool and lets you choose where the intelligence comes from: your API key, a local model or its gateway at provider rates. The source is in plain sight under an MIT licence and its agents split a large task into subtasks on their own. The price of that freedom is a product growing faster than it settles, with a JetBrains plugin several versions behind the VS Code one, a 5 % fee on credit top-ups and a new owner since 15 July 2026. **Best for:** Anyone wanting an agent in their editor with no subscription and control over model spend. **Rating:** 3.8/5 ## Pros - The extension is free and open source under an MIT licence - Your key, your model or local models, with no markup on provider rates - Lives in VS Code, the JetBrains IDEs and the command line ## Cons - The JetBrains plugin runs several versions behind the VS Code one - Topping up credits carries a 5 % fee - It changed owner in July 2026 and where that lands is still unknown ## Key facts - Price: Free - Free trial: No - Platforms: macOS, Windows - Categories: [Code](https://serchai.com/en/best-ai/code/) - Official website: https://kilo.ai/ ## What the internet says (agentic sweep) The praise that repeats is about governing spend rather than raw quality: the extension costs nothing, the source is in plain sight, and you supply the intelligence yourself, with your key, with a local model or through its gateway at provider rates. It lives in VS Code, in the JetBrains IDEs and on the command line, and agents with full tool access split a large task into subtasks on their own. The objections are about maturity and context. The JetBrains plugin runs several versions behind the VS Code one and started half a year later. Topping up credits carries a 5 % fee, so «no markup» only holds on the bring-your-own-key route. Since its 2025 launch it has carried the question of what it adds over the tools it came from. And it changed owner on 15 July 2026, which is too recent to know what it settles into. - Sweep date: 2026-07-28 - Derived score: 3.8/5 ### Axes - Results: 3.5/5 - Control: 4.4/5 - Real price: 4.2/5 - Integration: 3.6/5 - Support: 3.2/5 ### Recurring themes in favor - The tool costs nothing and is open source under an MIT licence, the one shipped inside the published package (strong theme) - You bring your own provider key with no markup, or run a local model, and switch between them without changing tools (strong theme) - It lives inside the editor you already use, in VS Code and the JetBrains IDEs, and it ships a command line too (strong theme) - Agents with full tool access delegate a large task to subagents on their own, with no separate mode to pick (present theme) ### Recurring themes against - The JetBrains plugin runs several versions behind the VS Code extension and started half a year later (strong theme) - Topping up credits carries a 5 % fee, so «no markup» only holds when you bring your own key (strong theme) - Spend is not flat: it depends on the model you connect, and that demands a discipline a fixed fee never asks for (strong theme) - The panel has no tabbed view for several tasks and the editor hands focus away when the agent creates a file (present theme) - Since launch it has carried the doubt of what it adds over the tools it came from (present theme) - Its site still says the licence is Apache-2.0 when the published package ships MIT, which is a slip on something that matters (present theme) ### Sweep sources - [Official pricing] https://kilo.ai/pricing — Página oficial de precios, leída en el HTML servido. El dominio antiguo kilocode.ai responde hoy con un 308 hacia kilo.ai. Imprime tres partes separadas. Una, el plan de plataforma, con la tarjeta «Free & Open Source» y la nota «Usage is billed separately» para una persona y «$15» «/user/month» para «Teams». Dos, la inferencia, con «$0» «/mo» y «No hosted credit required» si traes tu clave o corres un modelo local. Tres, el cómputo en la nube, cobrado aparte. La suscripción de créditos «Kilo Pass» arranca en «$19» «/mo», y la misma tabla imprime «Credit purchase processing fee» «5%», que es el matiz que desmonta cualquier lectura de «sin coste añadido» fuera de la vía de la clave propia - [GitHub] https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode — Repositorio oficial, enlazado desde la propia web. Su fichero LICENSE empieza por «MIT License» con copyright de 2026 de Kilo Code y de 2025 de opencode, y la licencia empaquetada dentro de la versión 7.4.16 publicada en el marketplace dice lo mismo, aunque varias respuestas de kilo.ai sigan afirmando Apache-2.0. En el mismo árbol, la documentación del modo orquestador se titula «Orchestrator Mode (Deprecated)» y avisa de que «agents with full tool access (Code, Plan, Debug) can now delegate to subagents automatically»: la descomposición en subtareas sigue, el modo aparte se retira - [App stores] https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=kilocode.Kilo-Code — Ficha en el marketplace de VS Code: más de 1,35 millones de instalaciones a 28 de julio de 2026, con una media de 3,85 sobre 202 valoraciones. Publicada el 7 de marzo de 2025 y con la versión 7.4.16 del 24 de julio de 2026. El contador de instalaciones que sirve la API oscila entre lecturas, así que se publica el orden de magnitud y no una cifra cerrada - [App stores] https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/28350-kilo-code — Complemento de JetBrains, con 320.824 descargas y valoración de 3,02 sobre 67 votos. El reparto de esos votos no es de producto tibio sino partido en dos, 25 unos contra 22 cincos, así que la nota mide enfado puntual y no mediocridad. La señal fiable de que va por detrás es otra: su última versión publicada es la 7.0.11, del 25 de julio de 2026, frente a la 7.4.16 de VS Code, y su historial arranca en septiembre de 2025, medio año después - [Communities] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43483802 — Hilo de presentación en Hacker News del 26 de marzo de 2025, con 98 puntos y 52 comentarios. Además del entusiasmo por el ritmo del equipo, recoge el escepticismo que sigue vigente: «I don't understand if/how they are building a differentiated product? The space of code agents is already pretty crowded» y, más duro, «Isn't this literally just "we are trying to fork roo code and pay $15 of your tokens so we can show VCs that we have users"». También sale la pregunta de de dónde sale el dinero, contestada con funciones de empresa - [Review sites] https://ppsakhadeo.com/blog/my-honest-review-of-kilo-code-2025 — Prueba de primera mano del 28 de octubre de 2025 construyendo funciones y depurando un proyecto real dentro de VS Code. A favor, que los atajos, el terminal y la navegación de ficheros siguen funcionando igual, y que se puede apuntar a Ollama o LM Studio para repositorios sensibles. En contra, dos fricciones concretas de las que solo se notan usando la herramienta: no hay vista por pestañas para varias tareas a la vez, y el editor cambia el foco solo cuando el agente crea un fichero, lo que rompe el ritmo al revisar. Es testimonio de experiencia de uso, no medición - [Press] https://sdtimes.com/agentic-engineering/anaconda-acquires-kilo-code-to-power-the-trillion-token-enterprise/ — Cobertura de la compra de Kilo Code por Anaconda, anunciada el 15 de julio de 2026. Es un comunicado recogido por la prensa del sector, o sea una señal y no varias, y se cita solo por el hecho corporativo: la herramienta tiene dueño nuevo desde hace dos semanas. La propia cabecera de kilo.ai lo anuncia con un «Kilo Joins Anaconda» > **TLDR:** Kilo Code puts a full agent inside VS Code and the JetBrains IDEs without asking you to switch editors or pay a subscription. The extension is free and open source under an MIT licence, and you supply the intelligence yourself: your API key, a local model, or its gateway at provider rates. What you have to accept is a product growing faster than it settles, a JetBrains plugin trailing the VS Code one, a 5 % fee on credit top-ups, and a company that changed owner on 15 July 2026. ## What Kilo Code is and how it works Kilo Code comes from the open source agent lineage that started with Cline and continued with Roo Code: extensions that install into the editor you already use, show every step before applying it, and run on whatever model you connect. Its version numbering gives the ancestry away, because its first published release was not 1.0 but 3.5.1, inherited from that branch. It is no longer that. The 7 series is rebuilt on a different core, and around it the project has raised its own work: a model gateway, a native JetBrains plugin, inline completion, repository indexing and cloud agents. It is still open source under an MIT licence, and there is a detail worth knowing: its own site claims in several places that the licence is Apache-2.0, when the package you install ships MIT. The repository file says so, and so does the licence bundled inside the published version. The other piece of context is ownership. On 15 July 2026, Anaconda acquired Kilo Code. Its site announces it in the header and the trade press carried it. Two weeks on there is no sign of anything getting worse, but there is not enough road yet to say where it lands. ## What using it is like day to day The first impression is continuity. You stay in your editor, with your shortcuts, your terminal and your file navigation, and the agent shows up in a side panel. Anyone who has tried an AI editor and does not want to migrate their whole working environment finds the exit here. The second impression is control. Once you can see what each request costs and switch models mid-session, you start making decisions a flat fee would never prompt: cheap model for the mechanical work, good model for the hard part. Connect your own key and the bill lands in your provider's dashboard with nothing sitting in between. For work spanning several fronts you no longer pick a separate mode. Agents with full tool access split the job into subtasks on their own, and the orchestrator mode that used to do it is marked deprecated in the project's own documentation, with removal announced. The friction daily users point at is interface and finish. The panel has no tabbed view, so running two tasks at once turns awkward. And when the agent creates a file, the editor hands focus to that file by itself, breaking your rhythm exactly when you are reviewing the previous change. And one environment note that matters. The JetBrains plugin exists and works, but it trails: its latest published version is 7.0.11 against 7.4.16 on VS Code, and its history starts in September 2025, half a year after the extension's. If your shop runs IntelliJ, expect things to arrive later. ## Pricing and plans The tool itself costs nothing. The pricing page says so with a card named free and open source, carrying the note that usage is billed separately. The team plan, with central billing, user management and access control, starts from $15 per user per month. What you actually pay for is the model, and there are three routes. Bringing your own key from another provider costs nothing extra to Kilo. Its gateway charges the provider's rate and draws from a balance. And there is a credit subscription, Kilo Pass, starting from $19 a month. Cloud compute, if you use its remote agents, is its own line too. Here is the nuance the segment's marketing skips and its own pricing table publishes: topping up credits carries a 5 % processing fee. Paying exactly what the provider charges is true on the bring-your-own-key route, and stops being true the moment you buy balance. That model is honest but demands discipline. On a flat fee you know your spend and it does not matter how you use it. Here spend depends on the model you pick, and an intense month on a frontier model runs past any subscription in the segment. Start with a balance cap and watch the consumption in week one. ## Who it is for (and who it is not for) Kilo Code suits people who code daily, do not want to change editors, and would rather govern model spend than pay a fixed fee. It also suits anyone who needs local models for privacy reasons, because pointing it at Ollama or LM Studio is a matter of configuration. It does not suit anyone who wants to open the tool and have it work without deciding anything: between providers, models and agents there are more choices here than in any flat-fee alternative. [GitHub Copilot](https://serchai.com/en/reviews/github-copilot/) asks far less and comes with a free plan. And if you want the more settled, narrower version of this same idea, [Cline](https://serchai.com/en/reviews/cline/) is the project this branch came from. The whole category sits in [best AI code tools](https://serchai.com/en/best-ai/code/). ## Kilo Code alternatives The split is one of temperament. Cline for anyone wanting the same thing with fewer open fronts and more calm. Copilot for anyone who would rather pay a fee and stop thinking about rates. They are on [Kilo Code alternatives](https://serchai.com/en/alternatives/kilo-code/). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is the extension really free? Yes. The VS Code extension, the JetBrains plugin and the command line are open source and cost nothing. What you pay for is model usage, and you can source that yourself. ### What licence is it under? MIT, which is what the repository file carries and what ships bundled inside the published version. Its site says Apache-2.0 in several places, and that is out of date. ### Can I use my own API key? Yes, with no markup from Kilo. You can also run a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, which is what people do when the code must not leave their machine. ### Does it work as well in JetBrains as in VS Code? No. The JetBrains plugin ships versions behind the VS Code extension and started half a year later, so new work reaches the other side first. ### How much does it end up costing a month? It depends on the model you connect and how much work you throw at it, which is why there is no honest figure to give. The tool is zero, the rest is consumption, and if you buy balance instead of bringing your key you add the 5 % fee its own table publishes. ## Alternatives - [Cline](https://serchai.com/en/reviews/cline/) — The open source agent for VS Code that runs on whatever model you give it. (4.2/5) - [GitHub Copilot](https://serchai.com/en/reviews/github-copilot/) — The coding assistant built into GitHub and your IDE, from $10. (3.8/5)