What is Cline used for?

Cline is an open-source autonomous coding agent available as a CLI, desktop app, VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin and SDK. It is a good fit for AI-assisted coding inside the editor, headless coding agent in CI/CD and building custom agents with the SDK.

Is Cline open source?

Yes. Cline is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at cline/cline and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Cline is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What is Cline an alternative to?

Cline is an open-source alternative to GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code and Devin. Other open-source alternatives to GitHub Copilot include Kilo Code, OpenCode and Aider.

Is Cline actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Cline was on 2 October 2026. The project has 70k stars on GitHub.

Cline: open-source alternative to GitHub Copilot, Cursor

About Cline

Cline is an open-source coding agent that works in your IDE, terminal and desktop. It can edit code across a project, create files, run commands and browse the web, with human-in-the-loop approval for tools in the editor. It is written in TypeScript and released under the Apache-2.0 license.

The same agent engine is offered in several forms: a CLI with an interactive mode and a headless mode for CI/CD and scripting, a native desktop app for macOS and Windows that works from any folder, schedules recurring routines and manages models, plugins and MCP servers, a VS Code extension, a JetBrains plugin for IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand and others, and an SDK.

The SDK is a Node.js programmatic API for building custom agents with custom tools, multi-agent teams, connectors and scheduled automations. The README notes that the JetBrains plugin is not open-sourced. Cline suits developers who want one coding agent across their editor, terminal and automation pipelines.

Key features

CLI with interactive and headless modes
VS Code extension with approval prompts
JetBrains plugin for the IntelliJ family
Desktop app for macOS and Windows
Node.js SDK for custom agents
Scheduled routines and MCP server management

Good fit for

→AI-assisted coding inside the editor
→Headless coding agent in CI/CD
→Building custom agents with the SDK

Built with: TypeScript
Tags: coding-agent; ai-coding; vscode-extension; cli; jetbrains; mcp; sdk; typescript

Cline: questions and answers

What is Cline used for?: Cline is an open-source autonomous coding agent available as a CLI, desktop app, VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin and SDK. It is a good fit for AI-assisted coding inside the editor, headless coding agent in CI/CD and building custom agents with the SDK.
Is Cline open source?: Yes. Cline is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at cline/cline and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Cline free?: Yes. Cline is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What is Cline an alternative to?: Cline is an open-source alternative to GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code and Devin. Other open-source alternatives to GitHub Copilot include Kilo Code, OpenCode and Aider.
Is Cline actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Cline was on 2 October 2026. The project has 70k stars on GitHub.