Cline
by Cline
Open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code with file editing, terminal commands, and bring-your-own-key model support. Cline (formerly Claude Dev) is an open-source AI coding agent built as a VS Code extension, originally released in 2024 by Saoud Rizwan. The project is MIT-licensed on GitHub at cline/cline and reached more than 1.
Key Facts
| Attribute | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free MIT-licensed extension; users pay model providers directly (BYOK) | Apr 2026 | Cline |
| Install Base | 1.5M+ VS Code Marketplace installs as of April 2026 | Apr 2026 | VS Code Marketplace |
| Released | 2024 (originally released as Claude Dev) | Apr 2026 | GitHub cline/cline |
| Key Differentiator | Open-source autonomous agent with human-in-the-loop checkpoints and MCP server support | Apr 2026 | Cline docs |
About Cline
Cline (formerly Claude Dev) is an open-source AI coding agent built as a VS Code extension, originally released in 2024 by Saoud Rizwan. The project is MIT-licensed on GitHub at cline/cline and reached more than 1.5 million installs in the VS Code Marketplace by April 2026.
The agent reads and edits files in the active workspace, runs terminal commands with user approval, and works through tasks autonomously while pausing for human checkpoints. Cline is bring-your-own-key: users connect their own Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex, or Azure credentials and pay model providers directly, so the extension itself is free. The MCP (Model Context Protocol) server framework adds custom tools for browsing, search, and external APIs. Cline is favoured by developers who want full transparency over agent actions and direct control of model spend.
Integrations (4)
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AI Coding & Development ToolsSee How It Ranks
Best AI App Builders in 2026
AI app builders are a 2024-2026 category of products that turn natural-language prompts into deployable web applications. The category emerged from the convergence of frontier LLM capability (Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini) and improved tooling for code generation, in-browser runtimes (WebContainers), and managed application hosting. This ranking evaluates 7 platforms on output quality, deployment options, pricing, stack flexibility, and the underlying AI model quality. The ranked products span dedicated AI app builders (Lovable, Bolt.new, v0, Magic Loops), in-browser agentic IDEs (Cursor, Replit Agent), and autonomous coding agents (Devin). Scores reflect hands-on evaluation of each platform's ability to generate, run, and deploy a real web application from a prompt as of May 2026.
Best AI Coding Tools and Developer Assistants 2026
AI coding tools have become essential for professional developers in 2026, with the category spanning full AI-native editors, IDE plugins, terminal-based assistants, and code generation platforms. This ranking evaluates the leading AI coding tools based on code suggestion quality, IDE integration depth, programming language support, pricing value, and AI model quality. The evaluation focuses on tools that directly assist developers in writing, refactoring, and understanding code. General-purpose AI chatbots that can discuss code but do not integrate into development environments are excluded.
Questions About Cline
What are the best ChatGPT Codex alternatives in 2026?
As of April 2026, the leading ChatGPT Codex alternatives are Claude Code (terminal and IDE agent from Anthropic), Cursor (AI-first IDE with Composer), GitHub Copilot (Microsoft baseline with agent mode), Aider (open-source CLI for git-based edits), and Cline (open-source VS Code extension that pairs with any model provider).
Is Cline worth it in 2026? A detailed review
Cline scores 7.7/10 in 2026. The MIT-licensed VS Code agent, released in 2024 as Claude Dev, reached 1.5M+ installs by April 2026 and runs on bring-your-own-key Claude, GPT-4, or Bedrock credentials.
How much does Cline cost in 2026?
Cline is free and MIT-licensed; users pay model providers directly. Typical Claude Sonnet usage runs $5-$30/day for active developers as of April 2026.
Is Aider worth it in 2026? A detailed review
Aider scores 7.6/10 in 2026. The Apache 2.0 CLI pair programmer by Paul Gauthier supports Claude, GPT-4, DeepSeek, Gemini, and local Ollama models with Git auto-commits and a public code-edit benchmark.