How much does Cline cost?

As of May 2026, Cline offers 1 pricing tier. A free plan is available.

Does Cline offer a free plan?

As of May 2026, Cline offers a free plan. You can use the free tier indefinitely without a credit card.

What pricing model does Cline use?

As of May 2026, Cline uses a Freemium pricing model. A free tier is available indefinitely, with paid plans for advanced features.

Are there cheaper alternatives?

Yes. GitHub Copilot (from $10/mo), Cursor (from $20/mo), Codeium (from $20/mo) offer lower starting prices in the same category.

What features are included in the Cline free plan?

As of May 2026, Cline offers a free plan with access to core features. Paid tiers unlock advanced functionality and higher usage limits. You can start for free without a credit card.

Home›Tools›AI Coding Tools›Cline›Pricing

Cline Pricing Plans and Tiers 2026

Q: Is Cline worth the price?

Cline offers 15 features including Autonomous Code Editing, File System Access, Terminal Execution. With a N/A/5 rating, most users find good value.

Open-source autonomous AI coding agent for VS Code

AI Coding ToolsFreemiumPrice verified May 15, 2026Free plan ✓

·1 plans · ★ N/A/5

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Full Review

Plans Analysis Worth It?Price History Alternatives FAQ

All Plans & Pricing

Free

Best for: Point Cline at Ollama running locally for zero API cost - quality depends on the model your hardware can run

✓Open source
✓Bring your own API key
✓All features included

Get Started Free →

Pricing Analysis

Overview

Cline itself is free and open source with zero subscription cost. You pay only for the LLM API calls you make - costs depend entirely on which model you configure. A typical coding session using Claude 3.7 Sonnet might cost $0.50 to $3 depending on task complexity and context size.

Which Plan Is Right for You?

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Point Cline at Ollama running locally for zero API cost - quality depends on the model your hardware can run.

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Use Mistral Small or Gemini Flash as the backend for strong coding performance at a fraction of Claude's cost.

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Claude 3.7 Sonnet gives the best agentic coding results - budget $20-50/month for typical development usage.

vs. Category Average

ClineFree

Category avg$20/mo

Free tier vs. $20/mo average

Our Verdict

For developers who already have API credits or want to use local models via Ollama, Cline can be significantly cheaper than Cursor Pro at $20/month or GitHub Copilot at $10/month.

Is Cline Worth the Price?

Strengths

4 points

1Completely free and open source
2Full autonomous capabilities
3Supports any LLM via API key
4Active community development

Considerations

3 points

1Can rack up high API costs with complex tasks
2Requires your own API key
3Occasional errors on complex multi-file tasks

Ideal For

VS Code users wanting autonomous AI coding agents

Which plan fits you

Local Models — Point Cline at Ollama running locally for zero API cost - quality depends on the model your hardware can run.

API (Budget) — Use Mistral Small or Gemini Flash as the backend for strong coding performance at a fraction of Claude's cost.

API (Quality) — Claude 3.

Pricing Takeaway

★ N/A/5

For developers who already have API credits or want to use local models via Ollama, Cline can be significantly cheaper than Cursor Pro at $20/month or GitHub Copilot at $10/month.