Overview
Cline is an open-source AI programming agent with over 8 million installations and 65.1k Stars on GitHub. It started as a VS Code extension and has expanded to JetBrains IDE and command-line CLI, providing a unified AI programming experience.
Cline is not just a code completion tool, but an intelligent programming agent that understands the entire codebase, performs large-scale refactoring, and runs automated workflows. Its core philosophy is 'open source, transparent, no compromise.'
On 2026-09-14, the official website released the open-source Cline Desktop application, supporting open-weight models, parallel AI agents, 300+ models, and plugin/MCP/skill extensions. The same disclosure noted the migration of 11 million users to the new Cline SDK, reducing the agent failure rate by 10x.
Key Features
- Deep Code Understanding: Analyze codebase structure, understand file dependencies and code behavior, answer code-related questions
- Large-Scale Refactoring: Make coordinated modifications across large codebases, automatically maintain imports, types, and behavioral consistency
- Multi-Platform Support: VS Code extension + JetBrains plugin + CLI + SDK Embed, unified experience across four platforms
- Cline Desktop Application: Open-source desktop application released on 2026-09-14, supporting open-weight models, parallel AI agents, 300+ models, and plugin/MCP/skill extensions
- CI/CD Automation: Run automated workflows in scripts, cron jobs, and CI pipelines via Cline CLI
- Kanban Parallel Execution: Create dependency chains via Kanban sidebar, support parallel Agent execution
- Fully Open Source: 65k+ Stars on GitHub, fully open code, active community
Use Cases
- Understanding and refactoring large codebases
- Developers who need AI Agent to autonomously complete programming tasks
- DevOps teams looking to integrate AI into CI/CD
- Developers using both VS Code and JetBrains
- Maintenance and contribution to open-source projects
- Teams looking to embed AI programming capabilities into their own products
- Developers who want a desktop AI programming agent with open-weight model support
Pros
- 8 million+ installations: the most widely user-validated AI programming agent
- Unified across four platforms: VS Code + JetBrains + CLI + SDK Embed, seamless switching
- Fully open source: 65k Stars, transparent and trustworthy community
- Strong large-scale refactoring: outstanding cross-file coordinated modification capabilities
- CI/CD integration: not just an IDE tool, but also integrates into automation workflows
- Open-source Cline Desktop application released on 2026-09-14, supporting open-weight models, parallel AI agents, 300+ models, and plugin/MCP/skill extensions
- 11 million users migrated to the new Cline SDK, with the agent failure rate reduced by 10x
Pricing
Cline offers free registration and usage. The open-source version is completely free, while commercial and enterprise versions require contacting sales for pricing. LLM API costs are borne by the user.
Summary
Cline is currently the most installed open-source AI programming agent—8 million installations and 65k Stars speak for themselves. If you want a truly capable AI programming assistant and value open source, Cline is the top choice. The unified experience across four platforms is also a unique advantage. With the 2026-09-14 release of the open-source Cline Desktop application and the migration of 11 million users to the new Cline SDK, the product now spans desktop as well, supports open-weight models, parallel AI agents, 300+ models, and plugin/MCP/skill extensions, and reports a 10x reduction in agent failure rate.
Version History
- The official website has released the Cline Desktop open-source application, supporting open-weight models, parallel AI agents, 300+ models, and plugin/MCP/skill extensions; it also disclosed (2026-09-14): The official website has released the open-source Cline Desktop application, supporting open-weight models, parallel AI agents, 300+ models, and plugin/MCP/skill extensions; it also disclosed the migration of 11 million users to the new Cline SDK, reducing the agent failure rate by 10x.
- Cline 3.x (2026): Plan/Act dual mode + automated testing + checkpoint rollback matured, consistently top downloads in VS Code plugin AI category; parallel development with Roo Code
- Cline 1.0 / 2.0 (2024-2025): Claude Dev renamed to Cline, pioneered open-source Cursor experience with autonomous editing + terminal command mode