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It's a split decision.
Choose Cline if you want an agent runtime you can embed through its SDK, use across editors and terminals, and connect to MCP servers. Choose Continue if Apache 2.0 licensing, self-hosting, task-specific model roles, or a published token-based plan matter more. Both support local models and hosted providers, and both have free entry points. Cline's optional ClinePass costs $9.99 per month; Continue lists Starter at $3 per million tokens and Team at $20 per seat.
01Side by side
| Cline | Continue | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free runtime; pay-as-you-go inference; optional ClinePass | $0 Solo; $3/M tokens Starter; $20/seat Team |
| Free tier | $0 individual; first 10 Teams seats permanently free | Free Solo; bring API keys or local models |
| Open source and licence | Open source; licence not identified | Open source under Apache 2.0 |
| Self-hosting | Runtime self-hosting not stated; supports local models | Self-hostable; supports local and private-infrastructure models |
| API and SDKs | SDK embeds runtime; OpenAI-compatible endpoints supported | Connects to model APIs; assigns models by task |
| CLI and docs | CLI: npm i -g cline; SDK package also documented | Continue CLI (`cn`) plus IDE integrations |
| Integrations | MCP, Slack, Discord, Telegram, Linear, GitHub Actions, GitLab | MCP, GitHub, Sentry, Snyk, PostgreSQL, model providers |
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, Linux, VS Code, Windsurf, JetBrains, Cursor | VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, command line |
Cline Choose Cline if
- Choose Cline if you want to embed its agent runtime in your product.
- Choose Cline if you work across its listed desktop, editor, and terminal options.
- Choose Cline if you want MCP plus integrations such as Slack or Linear.
Continue Choose Continue if
- Choose Continue if Apache 2.0 licensing is a requirement.
- Choose Continue if self-hosting or private-infrastructure models matter.
- Choose Continue if you want distinct models for tasks such as autocomplete and chat.
02Pricing at real usage
Cline's individual runtime is listed at $0 per month, with AI inference paid as you go through your own API key or Cline's provider. Teams cost $20 per user per month, with the first 10 seats permanently free and provider-cost pass-through. ClinePass is an optional $9.99 monthly subscription for curated open-weight models; the pricing page lists 2–5x standard API rate limits and says additional processing fees may apply.
Continue lists its Solo plan at $0, with your own API keys or local models. Starter is priced at $3 per million tokens. Team costs $20 per seat per month and includes $10 in credits per seat. So Cline's inference bill depends on provider usage, while Continue's listed Starter price scales with tokens. Both vendors leave some seat or usage limits unpublished; check those terms before estimating a team's total. Annual prices are not published.
03API, SDKs and integration
Cline is an agent runtime available in editors, a terminal, and as an SDK for embedding in products. Its documented install commands are npm i -g cline for the CLI and npm install @cline/sdk for the SDK. The pages do not identify SDK languages. Cline supports Claude, GPT, Gemini, Ollama, LM Studio, and OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Its SDK can register custom tools and lifecycle hooks, and the runtime can connect to MCP servers.
Continue connects models to Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, and its command-line interface, cn. It supports providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Mistral, Groq, Amazon Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, and OpenRouter, plus OpenAI-compatible APIs. Its configuration can assign models to roles such as Chat, Edit, Apply, Autocomplete, Embeddings, and Reranking. Continue also integrates with MCP and lists GitHub, Sentry, Snyk, and PostgreSQL integrations. Both products offer editor and terminal workflows; Cline's published SDK is the clearer option for embedding an agent runtime.
04Open source, self-hosting and lock-in
Both products identify themselves as open source. Continue specifies the Apache 2.0 licence and says it is self-hostable. Cline's pages describe an open-source runtime, but do not identify its licence or state that the runtime can be self-hosted. Cline does support local models through Ollama and LM Studio; Continue supports local models and private infrastructure.
Both let developers choose among model providers rather than requiring one model vendor, and both support OpenAI-compatible endpoints. That gives teams options when changing model providers, though configuration and workflow changes may still be needed. Cline also offers an SDK for embedding its runtime, while Continue's listed integration centers on IDEs, CLI, model roles, and MCP. Neither product's pages specify data-export procedures, so teams with export requirements should confirm them with the vendor before adopting either tool.
Questions people ask
Is Cline or Continue better for local models?
Both support local models. Cline names Ollama and LM Studio, alongside hosted models and OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Continue supports local models and private infrastructure, and lets teams assign different models to roles such as autocomplete, chat, and embeddings. Choose based on your preferred configuration and deployment setup.
Which product is easier to embed in another application?
Cline is the more direct fit when you need an embeddable agent runtime: it publishes the @cline/sdk package for that purpose. Continue's listed product centers on IDEs, its cn CLI, model configuration, and MCP connections. Its pages do not describe a comparable embedding SDK.
How do Cline and Continue charge for team use?
Cline Teams is listed at $20 per user per month, with the first 10 seats permanently free and inference passed through at provider cost. Continue Team is $20 per seat per month and includes $10 in credits per seat. Confirm usage terms before forecasting a larger deployment.
Do Cline and Continue support MCP?
Yes. Cline can connect MCP servers and register custom tools and lifecycle hooks through its SDK. Continue supports MCP as a client integration for external data sources, developer tools, and custom prompts. Check each product's documentation for the setup and permissions needed for your specific MCP server.