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Cline review: pricing, features and verdict

Open-source agent for VS Code and the CLI. No subscription: you bring your own keys for Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, OpenRouter, Bedrock, DeepSeek and more, or buy inference at cost.

Open-source coding agentCline Bot Inc.Free tierOpen source

Try ClineOfficial pricing

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Pricing

Starts atFree (pay for inference)
PlansFree and open source for individuals; pay only for model inference (or bring your own API key). Enterprise custom
Where it runsVS Code extension, CLI, SDK

Checked against https://cline.bot/pricing in November 2026.

What we like

  • No subscription or seat fees
  • Any model provider, no lock-in
  • MCP marketplace and client-side architecture

Watch out for

  • Costs vary with how much inference you burn
  • JetBrains extension and SSO are Enterprise-only
Best for: open-source AI coding tools, cheap and free AI coding tools, professional developers.

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