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Cline review

Open coding agent for VS Code, terminal, and SDK workflows

4.7
Open Source200K+ users
Community TrustedOpen Source
83
ToolHund Score
Excellent
Top 20%
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Our verdict

Cline is an open-source coding agent with Plan and Act modes, MCP support, terminal workflows, and IDE integration.

ToolHund Score: 83/100 · Best for: Developers who want an open-source coding agent with local control.

Independently reviewed by ToolHund editors. How we score →

Strengths
  • Open source
  • Self-hostable
  • Developer control
Weaknesses
  • Requires setup
  • Can be complex for beginners
  • Needs careful permissions

Who should choose Cline?

Developers who want an open-source coding agent with local control. The strongest fit is a buyer who will use Cline regularly for agents work rather than as an occasional experiment.

Cline earns its place in a workflow when Plan & Act modes, MCP support, Terminal workflows remove a repeated manual step. Because pricing starts at Open source · Bring your own key, test it against a specific recurring task before subscribing.

A practical three-step test

  1. STEP 1Run one real agents task from your current workflow in Cline.
  2. STEP 2Check whether Plan & Act modes produces an output you can use without substantial rework.
  3. STEP 3Compare the result and time saved with at least one alternative before choosing a paid plan.

Pricing

Open source · Bring your own key
Strong for technical teams — no license fees, you pay for infra and model usage

Buying checklist

  • Use-case fit: Developers who want an open-source coding agent with local control.
  • Core capabilities: Plan & Act modes, MCP support, Terminal workflows
  • Current listed pricing: Open source · Bring your own key
  • Reason to skip: the core features do not replace a task you perform regularly.

Cline is most compelling for developers who want an open-source coding agent with local control. Use the shortest available trial or billing period to validate the fit before making a longer commitment.

Features

  • Plan & Act modes
  • MCP support
  • Terminal workflows
  • VS Code extension

Cline vs top alternatives

ToolToolHund ScorePricingFree tierRating
Cline83/100Open source · Bring your own keyNo4.7/5
OpenHands81/100Open source · Cloud from $20/moNo4.7/5
Devin63/100Paid · From $500/moNo4.6/5
OpenAI Codex64/100Included with ChatGPT paid plansNo4.7/5
OpenHands
Open-source platform for autonomous software development agents
Devin
Autonomous AI software engineer from Cognition
OpenAI Codex
AI coding agents for software engineering teams
Claude Code
Agentic coding assistant for terminal and IDE workflows

See all Cline alternatives →

Cline FAQ

What is Cline?

Open coding agent for VS Code, terminal, and SDK workflows Cline is an open-source coding agent with Plan and Act modes, MCP support, terminal workflows, and IDE integration.

Is Cline free?

Cline is a paid tool. Current pricing: Open source · Bring your own key.

How much does Cline cost?

Cline pricing: Open source · Bring your own key. See the ToolHund review for plan details and value analysis.

What is Cline best for?

Developers who want an open-source coding agent with local control..

What are the best Cline alternatives?

The closest alternatives in the Agents category are OpenHands, Devin, OpenAI Codex.

How does ToolHund score Cline?

Cline scores 83/100 on the ToolHund rubric, which weighs capability, pricing honesty, traction and ecosystem.

Read the ToolHund scoring methodology →