ClineDeveloper Tools
Cline
The open-source AI coding agent you run with your own API key
What it is
Cline is an open-source AI coding agent that runs as an extension inside VS Code, JetBrains, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, and Neovim. Instead of a subscription, you bring your own API key and pay your model provider directly at cost, or route through Cline's managed inference. It reads and writes files, runs terminal commands, and drives a real browser, with human approval at each step.
- Price
- Free
- free tier available
- Free tier
- Yes
- no card required
- Platforms
- 5
- Web · macOS
What you get free vs paid
Verdict
Pros
- Apache 2.0 licensed and fully open source, with over 61,000 GitHub stars and no seat fees ever
- Supports 30+ LLM providers, so you're never locked into one vendor's pricing or model quality
- Terminal automation, headless browser testing, and MCP extensibility go well beyond what most editor extensions offer
- Real-time cost display shows exactly what each action is costing you in API spend
Cons
- No bundled model access, you need your own API key or Cline's pay-as-you-go managed inference to do anything
- Costs scale directly with usage and model choice, so a heavy day with a frontier model can get expensive fast
- Being an extension rather than a standalone IDE, it depends on your host editor's stability and update cycle
The most honest free option in AI coding: there's no subscription trap and no artificial cap, you simply pay your model provider for what you actually use, which suits budget-conscious developers far better than it suits anyone who wants a flat monthly bill.
Capabilities
Core features
- Plan/Act mode for separating planning from execution
- Terminal command automation with visible output
- Headless browser use for testing and research
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) marketplace for connecting tools and databases
- + .clinerules for version-controlled coding standards
- Real-time API cost tracking
- Support for 30+ LLM providers via bring-your-own-key
All platforms
AI stacks & blueprints
Best AI Coding Tools
View blueprint ▸Vetted AI coding assistants, editors, and terminal plugins designed to accelerate your development speed.
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Common questions
Is Cline free?
Cline offers a free tier you can use without paying. Browse QuestLoops for verified ways to get more out of it for free.
What are the best alternatives to Cline?
You can compare Cline side-by-side with similar Developer Tools on QuestLoops to weigh free-tier limits, pricing, and tradeoffs before deciding.
Community workarounds
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