Cline

What is Cline?

Cline is an open-source coding agent that runs as an extension inside your editor. It splits work into a planning step and an acting step, so you can see and approve the approach before it touches files. It edits across the project, runs terminal commands, uses a browser to check its own output, and takes checkpoints so any change can be rolled back. Model access is bring-your-own-key: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter or a local runtime all work. The differentiator is that the agent itself is free and auditable, and you decide which model and budget it runs against.

Last updated: 2026-09-20. This site only provides an index; for exact features, pricing, and licensing, see the official website.

Key features

• Plan and act modes that separate proposals from executed changes
• Edits multiple files and runs terminal commands in your workspace
• Checkpoint and rollback for every change it makes
• Browser automation so it can verify its own web output
• MCP marketplace for adding tools and data sources
• Bring your own key for Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter or local models

Pros & cons

Strengths

• Free and open source with fully auditable behaviour
• You control model choice and therefore cost per task
• Checkpoints make risky edits easy to undo

Watch out for

• Requires an API key, so there is a running model cost
• Long autonomous runs can consume tokens quickly
• Agent quality tracks whatever model you connect to it

Best for & use cases

agentic editing, byok workflows, refactoring, automated bug fixing

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