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Most buyers should pick Cline.
Pick Cline if you want an open-source agent with Plan/Act workflows, broad provider choice, and repo rules; its Open Source plan has no seat fee, but inference is pay-as-you-go. Pick Continue for IDE chat, inline edits, autocomplete, and model roles, with a free BYO-model option or usage billing at $3 per million tokens. Teams are $20 per seat monthly in both products after Cline’s first 10 free seats; Continue includes $10 in credits per seat. Cline edges our review scores, 7.8 to 7.6.
01Side by side
| Cline | Continue | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0 seat; ClinePass is $9.99/month | $0 Solo; Starter is $3/million tokens |
| Free plan | Open Source plan; bring your own keys | Open Source Solo; bring your own models |
| Best for | Agent workflows across editor, terminal, and apps | IDE assistance with chat, edits, and autocomplete |
| Core strength | Plan/Act modes, terminal commands, and multi-file edits | IDE tools and models assigned by coding task |
| Learning curve | Ease-of-use review score: 7/10 | Ease-of-use review score: 6/10 |
| Integrations and models | Major providers, local models, MCP, and chat integrations | Bring-your-own or local models; assign roles by task |
| Team/seat costs | First 10 seats free; then $20/user/month | $20/seat/month, including $10 in credits |
| Support | Review score: 5/10; support details not published | Review score: 5/10; support details not published |
Cline Choose Cline if
- Choose Cline if you want Plan/Act agent workflows.
- Choose Cline if you need broad provider and local-model choice.
- Choose Cline if your team wants 10 free seats.
Continue Choose Continue if
- Choose Continue if IDE chat and inline edits are priorities.
- Choose Continue if you want autocomplete and task-specific model roles.
- Choose Continue if you prefer usage billing at $3 per million tokens.
02Pricing compared
Both products have a free option, but the paid prices use different units. Cline’s Open Source plan has no seat fee; you pay for AI inference at provider cost using your own keys or Cline’s provider. Its Teams plan gives the first 10 seats free, then costs $20 per user per month, with inference billed separately and no markup. ClinePass is $9.99 per month for access to curated models and 2–5x the rate limits of standard API access; additional processing fees may apply, but the amount is not published.
Continue’s Open Source plan is free with your own models. Starter usage is listed at $3 per million tokens. Its Team plan costs $20 per seat per month and includes $10 in credits per seat. Neither product publishes annual rates. Compare expected inference use, not just seat prices.
03Features and depth
Cline is centered on an agent workflow: plan a task in Plan mode, then execute it in Act mode, either with step approvals or on autopilot. Its feature list includes multi-file edits, diffs, checkpoints, one-click undo, terminal commands, and repo-level .clinerules. It supports Claude, GPT, Gemini, local Ollama or LM Studio models, and OpenAI-compatible endpoints. MCP and integrations with tools such as Slack, Linear, and CI pipelines extend it beyond the editor.
Continue combines agent work with everyday IDE assistance. It offers codebase-aware chat, inline edits, autocomplete, and a CLI, plus model roles for assigning different models to tasks such as chat and autocomplete. Both products let developers choose models; Continue’s description puts more emphasis on these distinct assistant modes, while Cline spells out approval controls and checkpoints. Our review scores are close: Cline 7.8 overall, Continue 7.6.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Neither product removes model setup and usage decisions if you bring your own keys. Cline’s Plan and Act modes, approvals, and undo checkpoints provide explicit controls for agent tasks, but choosing providers and managing inference costs remain part of the workflow. Continue offers familiar IDE functions—chat, inline editing, and autocomplete—alongside model roles and a CLI, so there are more configuration choices to understand.
Our review scores rate Cline’s ease of use at 7/10 and Continue’s at 6/10. Treat that as a modest edge, not proof that either needs less setup in your environment. If you mainly want inline assistance, Continue’s feature set is direct; if you want controlled multi-step edits, Cline makes those controls more prominent.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, Cline or Continue?
It depends on how you use them. Both offer a free option with your own models or keys. Cline Teams charges $20 per user monthly after its first 10 free seats, with inference billed separately. Continue Team is $20 per seat monthly and includes $10 in credits; its Starter usage is $3 per million tokens.
Can I use my own AI models with Cline and Continue?
Yes. Cline lists support for major providers, local Ollama and LM Studio models, and OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Continue’s free Open Source plan supports your own API keys or local models. The published details do not list an equivalent provider-by-provider roster for Continue.
Which is better for teams?
Cline Teams costs $20 per user per month after the first 10 seats, and teams bring their own inference with no markup on pass-through costs. Continue Team costs $20 per seat monthly and includes $10 in credits per seat. Compare expected usage and billing needs; other seat and usage limits are not published.
Does Continue have autocomplete, and does Cline?
Continue explicitly lists inline autocomplete alongside chat, editing, agent mode, and its CLI. Cline’s published feature list focuses on agent workflows, multi-file edits, terminal commands, model choice, and integrations; it does not list autocomplete. That difference favors Continue if inline completion is a requirement.