Head to head
Stop guessing which one. Put them side by side.
Up to 4 tools, same rows for each: what it is, what it really costs, the trap, and how to wire it up. The URL carries your picks — send it to anyone.
AiderClineContinue.dev
| Field | Aideraider.chat | Clinecline.bot | Continue.devgithub.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | The original terminal AI pair programmer, Apache-2.0 with roughly 48k stars and still actively developed. It builds a repo map of your codebase, edits files in place, runs linters and tests, and auto-commits every change with a written message. Works with almost any LLM, including local models. | An Apache-2.0 autonomous coding agent with roughly 64k GitHub stars, shipping as a VS Code and JetBrains extension, a CLI, an SDK and a web kanban board. Its Plan/Act split makes the agent draft an approach before touching files, and every diff and terminal command needs approval by default. | For years the leading open-source, fully configurable IDE assistant, with VS Code and JetBrains extensions plus the cn CLI and a Mission Control agent platform. Cursor acquired the team on 18 June 2026; the hosted service shut down on 15 July, and the repo shipped a final 2.0.0 release and went read-only. |
| Category | AI IDEs & coding agents | AI IDEs & coding agents | AI IDEs & coding agents |
| Cost tier | free | free | free |
| Pricing | Free and open source (Apache 2.0) · BYO API key | Free and open source (Apache 2.0) · BYO key or pay-as-you-go credits | Free (Apache 2.0, archived) · hosted platform shut down |
| Why builders pick it | Git-native discipline: every AI edit lands as its own commit, so git diff and git revert are your undo button. It is the cheapest serious option because you pay only raw API tokens, and it scripts cleanly into CI. | The transparency pick: you see every diff and every command before it runs, and you pay providers directly with no markup. Works with Claude, GPT, Gemini, Ollama and 200+ models via OpenRouter, so nothing is locked in. | Still worth knowing because the Apache-2.0 code is a clean reference for building your own assistant, and the final release stripped telemetry and login requirements, so a pinned 2.0.0 build runs fully offline against local models. |
| Watch out for | No GUI and no MCP-style tool ecosystem; the interaction model is chat plus file mentions, which feels dated next to fully autonomous agents. | BYO-key means costs are unbounded and easy to underestimate — one long agent session on a frontier model can run to several dollars. | Abandonware as of mid-2026. Pinned builds keep working, but provider APIs will drift and nobody upstream is fixing it. Migrate to Cline, Kilo Code or OpenCode. |
| How to wire it up | python -m pip install aider-install && aider-install | Install 'Cline' from the VS Code marketplace | not logged |
| Editor's pick | No | No | No |
Which one did you ship?
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# Tool comparison — Aider vs Cline vs Continue.dev Source: Kbaise, a directory of tools that work with Lovable projects. Pick one and tell me why before writing any integration code. ## Aider (aider) - URL: https://aider.chat - Category: AI IDEs & coding agents - Cost: free — Free and open source (Apache 2.0) · BYO API key - What it is: The original terminal AI pair programmer, Apache-2.0 with roughly 48k stars and still actively developed. It builds a repo map of your codebase, edits files in place, runs linters and tests, and auto-commits every change with a written message. Works with almost any LLM, including local models. - Why builders pick it: Git-native discipline: every AI edit lands as its own commit, so git diff and git revert are your undo button. It is the cheapest serious option because you pay only raw API tokens, and it scripts cleanly into CI. - Trap: No GUI and no MCP-style tool ecosystem; the interaction model is chat plus file mentions, which feels dated next to fully autonomous agents. - Wiring: python -m pip install aider-install && aider-install - Full dossier: /api/public/tools/aider ## Cline (cline) - URL: https://cline.bot - Category: AI IDEs & coding agents - Cost: free — Free and open source (Apache 2.0) · BYO key or pay-as-you-go credits - What it is: An Apache-2.0 autonomous coding agent with roughly 64k GitHub stars, shipping as a VS Code and JetBrains extension, a CLI, an SDK and a web kanban board. Its Plan/Act split makes the agent draft an approach before touching files, and every diff and terminal command needs approval by default. - Why builders pick it: The transparency pick: you see every diff and every command before it runs, and you pay providers directly with no markup. Works with Claude, GPT, Gemini, Ollama and 200+ models via OpenRouter, so nothing is locked in. - Trap: BYO-key means costs are unbounded and easy to underestimate — one long agent session on a frontier model can run to several dollars. - Wiring: Install 'Cline' from the VS Code marketplace - Full dossier: /api/public/tools/cline ## Continue.dev (continue-dev) - URL: https://github.com/continuedev/continue - Category: AI IDEs & coding agents - Cost: free — Free (Apache 2.0, archived) · hosted platform shut down - What it is: For years the leading open-source, fully configurable IDE assistant, with VS Code and JetBrains extensions plus the cn CLI and a Mission Control agent platform. Cursor acquired the team on 18 June 2026; the hosted service shut down on 15 July, and the repo shipped a final 2.0.0 release and went read-only. - Why builders pick it: Still worth knowing because the Apache-2.0 code is a clean reference for building your own assistant, and the final release stripped telemetry and login requirements, so a pinned 2.0.0 build runs fully offline against local models. - Trap: Abandonware as of mid-2026. Pinned builds keep working, but provider APIs will drift and nobody upstream is fixing it. Migrate to Cline, Kilo Code or OpenCode. - Full dossier: /api/public/tools/continue-dev ## Rules 1. Prefer the free tier when no budget was stated, and say what the ceiling is. 2. Read the full dossier before integrating. 3. Fetch /api/public/models before writing any AI model ID.
Agents can fetch the same thing: GET /api/public/compare?slugs=aider,cline,continue-dev