Cline: Coding Agents

Founded 2024|1-10 people|Free OSS + Teams from $20/user/mo (first 10 seats free)

What is Cline?

Cline is the most-installed open-source autonomous coding agent on the VS Code marketplace, with 5M+ installs. As a VS Code extension it can autonomously create and edit files, run terminal commands, use the browser, and handle complex multi-step engineering tasks — always asking for permission at each step rather than running silently.

Cline pioneered the agentic coding pattern that Kilo Code and Roo Code later forked. It supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) so the agent can extend its own toolset, and it works with any LLM provider — Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Google, and local models. Pairing Cline with Claude Sonnet's tool-use capabilities produces some of the most capable open-source agent workflows available.

The OSS extension is completely free for individuals — you only pay for AI inference on a usage basis with no markup or vendor lock-in. The Cline Teams plan is free through Q1 2026, then $20/user/month with the first 10 seats always free, adding JetBrains support, centralized billing, and team admin features.

Key features

Core capabilities this platform advertises.

Step-by-step permission gating for every file edit, command, and browser action
Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for agent-extensible tools
Works with any LLM — Claude, OpenAI, Google, local
Browser control and full terminal integration
Most-installed open-source coding agent on VS Code (5M+)

Strengths and tradeoffs

What this tool does well, and the limitations to keep in mind.

Pros

OG agentic coding agent — battle-tested with 5M+ installs
Step-by-step permissions keep humans in the loop
Pairs especially well with Claude Sonnet's tool use
Open-source under MIT — no lock-in
Strong community + active fork ecosystem (Kilo, Roo)

Cons

VS Code only (JetBrains arrives with Teams plan)
Pay-per-token costs add up for heavy agentic workloads
Newer forks (Kilo, Roo) ship features faster
Permission prompting can feel slow on long tasks

Plans & pricing

What's included in each plan, and how the tiers compare.

Free (Open Source)

Forever

VS Code extension with full agent capabilities
BYO model — Claude, OpenAI, Google, local
MCP support
All core features, no caps

Teams

$20

User/month

First 10 seats always free
JetBrains support
Centralized billing + admin
Free through Q1 2026

Enterprise

Contact sales

Contact sales for a quote

SSO, audit logs, data controls
Private gateway BYOK
SLA and dedicated support

View official pricing page

Common use cases

Individual developers and teams who want a battle-tested, agentic coding assistant inside VS Code with full model freedom

Autonomous multi-file feature implementation in VS Code
Agent-driven refactors with reviewable per-step permission
Terminal automation under agent control
BYO model coding workflows (Claude, GPT, local)
Browser-based testing and debugging from the agent

Using Cline with Respan

Cline and Respan enable AI-powered coding with cost tracking. Code with Cline autonomous agent while monitoring AI usage costs with Respan.

Track API costs for Cline coding sessions by model and task
Monitor token consumption patterns to optimize model selection
Debug Cline failures using Respan detailed execution traces
Measure developer productivity versus AI costs for ROI analysis

Run Cline in production with Respan

10KFree traces/mo

1,000+Models

5 minSetup

Respan lets you trace LLM and agent calls across any model or framework, A/B test prompts on production traffic, and route requests across 1,000+ models through one gateway.

Try Respan free

Best Cline alternatives & competitors

Top companies in Coding Agents you can use instead of Cline.

Claude Code

Agentic CLI that edits files, runs commands, and navigates codebases autonomously