Cline
Open-source agentic VS Code extension with 59K stars and a thriving fork ecosystem
Our Take
Cline has become the de facto open-source agentic extension with 59K GitHub stars and 5M+ editor installs — the second most-installed agentic extension after Copilot. It spawned an ecosystem of forks: Roo Code (adding role-based modes and diff-based editing for ~30% token savings) and Kilo Code ($8M raised, December 2025). Cline works with any LLM via BYOK, including local models through Ollama, giving developers full control over cost and privacy. The agentic capabilities are genuinely impressive for an open-source tool. The main limitation: as a VS Code extension rather than a standalone product, it lacks the deep IDE integration of Cursor and the terminal autonomy of Claude Code. For developers who want powerful agentic coding without paying for a commercial tool, Cline is the clear choice.
Pros
- + 59K GitHub stars and 5M+ editor installs
- + Completely free with BYOK model support
- + Works with local models via Ollama for full privacy
- + Active fork ecosystem (Roo Code, Kilo Code)
Cons
- - Less integrated than purpose-built IDEs like Cursor
- - Agentic reliability depends on the underlying model chosen
- - Extension-based approach has inherent VS Code limitations
Details
- Pricing Model
- open-source
- Starting Price
- $0 (BYOK)
- Self-Hosted
- Yes
- Cloud Hosted
- No
- Founded
- 2024
- Repository
- GitHub →
Best For
- • Developers wanting an open-source alternative to Copilot in VS Code
- • Teams needing a model-agnostic agentic extension
- • Privacy-conscious developers using local models
Integrations
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