Cline

Open-source coding agent with planning, file changes, terminal workflows, and integrations across supported development tools.

Give the agent a bounded task, review its proposed actions, and inspect the changes and checks before accepting them.

Access and pricing: The core repository is Apache-2.0. Model, hosted inference, or optional service subscriptions may cost extra; free software does not include unlimited model usage.

What it does well

The GitHub README describes Cline as an open-source coding agent for your IDE, terminal and desktop. It can edit files across a project, run terminal commands, and work in Plan mode (explore and outline) or Act mode (execute), with diffs you review and checkpoints for undo. It also supports MCP servers, .clinerules files, skills, scheduled agents and a headless CLI mode.

Getting started in 10 minutes

Install the VS Code extension from the marketplace, or the JetBrains plugin, or run npm i -g cline for the CLI. A desktop app for macOS and Windows is also listed. Pick a provider such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, or local Ollama or LM Studio, then give Cline a small task and review each proposed action.

Limits to check before you commit

The repository is Apache 2.0, but the README notes the JetBrains plugins are not open-sourced. Model usage costs depend on the provider you connect, so the software being free does not mean unlimited use. Review commands before approving them, especially with auto-approve turned on.