Cline
Open-source autonomous AI coding agent that runs as a VS Code / Cursor / Windsurf extension. Creates and edits files, runs terminal commands, browses the web, and uses MCP — all with per-step approval or full autonomy. Bring-your-own-model: supports Anthropic, Google (Gemini CLI free tier), OpenAI, OpenRouter, Grok 3 free, ollama local, and SAP AI Core.
Why it matters
Cline is the canonical free, open-source alternative to cursor for developers who want full data control and provider flexibility. Pairs with continue (autocomplete) for a complete cursor-replacement stack on top of plain VS Code.
Release timeline
| Version | Date | Headline features |
|---|---|---|
| v3.13 | 2025-05 | Memory Bank (markdown persistent context), slash-command framework, checkpoint system (infinite undo), prompt caching, Qwen 3 support. See summary-worldofai-cline-v313-memory-bank. |
| v4.0 | 2025-04 | YOLO Mode (full autonomy, no permission prompts), Chrome browser integration (session-based debugging), 10× faster diff editing, redesigned visual checkpoints, Grok 3 Mini + ByteDance Doubao support. See summary-worldofai-cline-v4-yolo-mode. |
| v3.18 | 2025-06 | Gemini CLI provider (1,000 free daily Gemini 2.5 Pro requests), Claude Code CLI as backend provider, Claude 4 diff-edit failure rate 10% → 6%, self-knowledge via web_fetch, 35 new MCP servers (AWS-heavy), auto-approve modes. See summary-worldofai-cline-v318. |
(Date order is per the WorldofAI walkthroughs; the version numbers diverge from semver because v4.0 was a parallel branch line that didn’t subsume v3.x.)
Combined with other tools
- continue — Continue handles autocomplete/inline-edit, Cline handles multi-file/agentic edits. The combo replaces Cursor entirely for free.
- ollama — drives Cline locally with DeepSeek, Qwen, etc.
- openrouter — unified API gateway including free DeepSeek tiers
Free-API workarounds
Cline accepts any provider; users who want to skip Anthropic billing entirely can route through Requesty or Kilo (free-credit gateways), in addition to OpenRouter and Gemini CLI’s free tier. Gives Cline its “fully free” framing in three different WorldofAI walkthroughs.
Sources in this wiki
- Cline v4.0 (WorldofAI, 2025-04-15) — YOLO Mode + Chrome
- Readdy + Cline full-stack (WorldofAI, 2025-04-21) — Cline as the backend half of a no-code stack
- Cline v3.13 (WorldofAI, 2025-05-01) — Memory Bank, slash commands, checkpoints
- Sonnet + Cline (WorldofAI, 2025-05-23) — Claude 4 launch pricing + ~$2.60 SaaS-landing-page demo
- Cline v3.18 HUGE UPDATE (WorldofAI, 2025-06-27) — Gemini CLI provider + 35 new MCP servers
- VSCode + Cline + Continue (Nathan Sebhastian, 2025-04-09)