Comparison

Cline vs Cursor

A like-for-like, spec-level comparison. Both entries are verified against their docs and repo.

Cline

Autonomous coding agent inside VS Code, with approval gates.

  • + Approval gates make autonomous edits safe
  • + Runs inside the editor you already use
  • − VS Code only
  • − Token-heavy on large tasks

Cursor

The AI-first code editor built on VS Code.

  • + Familiar VS Code workflow with native AI
  • + @-mentions reduce hallucinated APIs
  • − Closed source editor
  • − Best features behind the paid tier
Spec Cline Cursor
Category coding-agent coding-agent
License Apache-2.0 Proprietary
Open source Yes No
Self-hostable Yes No
MCP support Yes Yes
Pricing free freemium
Starting price BYOK usage cost $20/mo (Pro)
Models claude, gpt, gemini, byok claude, gpt, gemini, custom
Languages typescript multi
GitHub stars 63.9k
Last activity 2026-06-25