Cline

An autonomous coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, the terminal and the desktop that creates files, runs commands and uses tools with your approval.

71.1k stars, 7.8k forks TypeScript On GitHub since July 2024

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Cline?

Cline works inside your editor as an agent: it reads the project, creates and edits files, runs terminal commands, browses the web and calls MCP tools, asking you to approve each step unless you allow it to proceed. Besides the VS Code extension, it is available as a JetBrains plugin for IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm and others, as a CLI that can run headless in CI pipelines and scripts, as a desktop app for macOS and Windows with scheduled routines, and as an SDK.

Good fit if

  • You want an agent in your existing IDE that shows each change before applying it.
  • You want the same agent in the editor and in CI.
  • You bring your own model provider and API keys.

Look elsewhere if

  • You prefer a terminal-first agent: OpenCode or Codex CLI.
  • You want an editor built around AI from scratch: Zed.

Before you adopt it

Cline is Apache-2.0, with no paid parts in the repository. The agent is free; you pay your model provider for the tokens it uses, which can add up on long autonomous tasks.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Cline health: is it still maintained?

78 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    902 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 30 October 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    11 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 55% of them.
    14 / 20
  • Releases
    15 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v4.1.26, on 26 October 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Too few recent issues from outside the team to measure, so this part gets a neutral score.
    10 / 20
  • Security practices
    No OpenSSF Scorecard for this repository yet, so this part gets a neutral score.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 1 November 2026. How the score works

Cline license: is it open source?

Cline uses Apache-2.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. July 2024First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayApache-2.0.

How to run Cline yourself

Docker
No Docker files in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
Builds for Linux, Windows, macOS, including ARM in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: cline.bot or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Cline

  • Open InterpreterA coding agent for open models like Kimi K3 and GLM 5.3 81 health · Apache-2.0 · 68.8k stars
  • Qwen CodeAn open-source AI coding agent that lives in your terminal. 80 health · Apache-2.0 · 28.9k stars
  • OpenCodeThe open source coding agent. 78 health · MIT · 224k stars
  • OrcaOrca is the place for working with a fleet of agents (e.g. Grok Bot, Claude Code). Run any coding agent with… 77 health · MIT · 112k stars
  • Kilo CodeKilo is the all-in-one agentic engineering platform. Build, ship, and iterate faster with the most popular… 76 health · MIT · 27.8k stars

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Questions about Cline

Is Cline open source?

Yes. Cline is published under Apache-2.0, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Cline still maintained?

Its health score is 78 of 100 (actively developed). It had 902 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 30 October 2026, and its latest release came out on 26 October 2026.

How do I run Cline?

You can run it as an app for Linux, Windows, macOS, including ARM. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Cline?

Close alternatives in the AI coding agents category include Open Interpreter, Qwen Code, OpenCode.