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Cline

Open-source VS Code and JetBrains agent built around an explicit plan/act split.

cline.botdocs.cline.botgithub.com/cline/cline
Overall in coding agents
11of 17 · score 67.2
Data coverage
92%
24 of 26 fields sourced

Best for

  • •VS Code and JetBrains teams who want BYOK without leaving the IDE
  • •Reviewers who want to approve the plan before any file changes
  • •MCP-heavy setups that benefit from the server marketplace

Strong on

  • +Model breadth any provider / router 1/17
  • +GitHub stars 71,400 3/11

Weak on

  • −Subagents No 12/16
    Better: Claude Code: Yes
  • −Background agents No 12/16
    Better: Claude Code: Yes
  • −Hooks No 11/14
    Better: Claude Code: Yes
  • −Opens PRs No 10/16
    Better: Claude Code: Yes

vs Aider

  • •Ahead on MCP: Yes vs No
  • •Ahead on Plan mode: Yes vs Partial
  • •Behind on Repo indexing: agentic grep vs AST / LSP repo map

How Cline scores among 17 coding agents24 of 26 fields known

Features8

Surface
IDE extension, CLI
7/17
Leader: GitHub Copilot (Agent HQ) · GitHub-native, IDE extension, CLI, web, cloud delegate
github.com · 2026-11-06
Default model
None, you pick a provider at setup
· 2026-01-15
Model breadth1st
any provider / router
1/17
docs.cline.bot · 2026-01-15
Repo indexing
agentic grep
9/16
Leader: Devin · hybrid index + agentic
Plan mode1st
Yes
1/17
· 2026-01-15
Checkpoint & undo1st
Yes
1/16
· 2026-01-15
Headless / CI1st
Yes
1/17
github.com · 2026-11-06
Local models1st
Yes
1/17
· 2026-01-15

Agentic7

Where it stops
3
7/15
Leader: Claude Code · 4
MCP1st
Yes
1/17
· 2026-01-15
Subagents
No
12/16
Leader: Claude Code · Yes
Hooks
No
11/14
Leader: Claude Code · Yes
Skills / commands1st
Yes
1/17
Background agents
No
12/16
Leader: Claude Code · Yes
Opens PRs
No
10/16
Leader: Claude Code · Yes

Governance & control3

Permissions
granular allowlist
9/17
Leader: Claude Code · allowlist + OS sandbox
· 2026-01-15
BYOK1st
Yes
1/17
cline.bot · 2026-11-06
Licence1st
Apache-2.0
1/16
github.com · 2026-11-06

Pricing3

Pricing model1st
BYOK tokens only
1/16
cline.bot · 2026-11-06
Entry price1st
$0/seat/mo
1/16
cline.bot · 2026-11-06
Token markup
No
5/16
Leader: Windsurf · Yes

Traction3

GitHub stars3rd
71,400
3/11
Leader: Claude Code · 155,000
github.com · 2026-11-06
Terminal-Bench
—
Bench model
—

Positioning1

Positioning
Autonomous coding agent in your IDE, with your API key.
cline.bot

Timeline1

First release
2024-07-01

Alternatives8

Compare

Sources4

Cline logo & brand colours

Logo assets

LogoSVG
Download
MonochromeSVG
Cline logo

Flattened to currentColor, what Toolweight renders in tables and nav.

Download

Cline brand colours

#18181B