COMPARISON · Last verified: September 2026
Cline vs Cursor
Ownership update
- Cursor is now part of SpaceX. Cursor announced on August 14, 2026 that it had officially been acquired by SpaceX, completing a process that began in April with a model-training partnership with SpaceXAI. Its subscriptions are still sold directly through cursor.com.
An open-source agent on the models you choose vs a subscription, agent-first editor: verified pricing, features and fit.
🏆 Quick Verdict
Cursor (4.8/5 vs 4.4/5)
Both free to start: Cline itself is free (you pay for model usage); Cursor Pro is $20/mo
⭐ Strongest At
Every tool has one thing it does better than its competitors. Here is each one's honest edge:
Model freedom in the editor you already use: open source, any provider or local model, and approval on every step.
An all-in-one package: agent-first editor, Tab autocomplete, first-party Grok and Composer models and cloud agents under one plan.
📊 Quick Specs
Cline vs Cursor: official demos
Watch each tool in action: official videos from Cline and Cursor, side by side, before you decide.
Cline
Cursor
Official videos via YouTube (Cline; Cursor), embedded for reference. ToolChase does not host or claim these videos.
What is Cline?
Cline is an open-source (Apache 2.0) AI coding agent made by Cline Bot Inc. It reads and writes files, runs terminal commands and uses a browser, and every action asks for your approval unless you auto-approve the action types you trust. Plan mode lets it read the codebase and discuss strategy without changing files; Act mode carries out the plan, optionally on a different model. Checkpoints snapshot your files to a shadow Git repository after each tool use, apart from your own Git history. Cline runs as an extension in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and Antigravity and as a JetBrains plugin, and also comes as a CLI, Cline Desktop (macOS, with Windows in beta), a Kanban board for parallel agents (in preview) and an SDK. You bring the model: your own API keys, local models through Ollama or LM Studio, pay-as-you-go Cline credits or ClinePass. Cline reports more than 11 million installs across platforms.
What is Cursor?
Cursor is a desktop code editor for macOS, Windows and Linux, built on the VS Code codebase, that now calls itself a coding agent: the app is agent-first, with the editor there when you need it. Its Agent searches the codebase and the web, edits files, runs shell commands, can use a browser and keeps local checkpoints. Plan Mode researches, asks clarifying questions and waits for your approval before building, and Projects let a coordinator agent delegate a large job to other agents. Tab, its autocomplete, suggests multi-line and cross-file edits. Around the editor sit a CLI, cloud agents you can launch from the web, your phone, Slack, GitHub or Linear, and Bugbot code review. Pro, Pro+ and Ultra include two usage pools: Cursor's first-party Grok 4.7, Grok 4.6, Grok 4.5 and Composer 2.5, and third-party models such as Claude Opus 5, GPT-5.6 and Gemini 3.1 Pro at their API prices. Cursor has been part of SpaceX since August 2026.
Key differences at a glance
Both plan, edit files and run commands in your repo, and both are free to start. What separates them:
- -- Product shape: Cline is an agent you add to your editor, run in a terminal or use in its own desktop app; Cursor is a separate editor built on the VS Code codebase.
- -- Models: Cline runs whatever model you connect, from frontier APIs to local models. Cursor's paid plans include usage of its first-party Grok and Composer models, with third-party models charged at API prices.
- -- Billing basis: Cline's open-source version has no subscription or seat fee: you pay per token, or $9.99/mo for ClinePass. Cursor is a per-person subscription, cheaper on yearly billing.
- -- Data path: With your own keys, Cline sends requests straight from your machine to the provider. Cursor routes all requests, own-key ones included, through its servers for final prompt building.
- -- Autocomplete vs agent: Cursor includes Tab, an autocomplete for multi-line and cross-file edits. Cline's FAQ pitches it on heavier work: it can run tests, open a browser or perform "deeper tasks than typical AI autocomplete tools".
- -- Score: Cursor rates 4.8/5 in our review; Cline rates 4.4/5.
Feature-by-feature comparison
Here is how Cline and Cursor compare on the capabilities that affect daily use:
Pricing comparison
Cline's pricing page lists two tiers. Open Source is free: the VS Code extension and CLI, with no subscriptions or seat fees. For inference you use your own API keys, billed by your provider; pay-as-you-go Cline credits across 100+ models, which the pricing page calls inference "at cost"; or ClinePass at $9.99/month, an optional subscription that Cline says gives 2 to 5 times the usage of standard API rates on open-weight models such as Kimi K3, DeepSeek V4 Pro, GLM-5.3 and Qwen3.8 Max. $9.99 is the standard rate after any promotional period, and processing fees may apply. Enterprise is custom-priced; its feature list includes the JetBrains extension, SSO, an SLA, centralized billing, role-based access control, limits on inference providers and a team dashboard.
Cursor sells subscriptions. Hobby is free, needs no credit card and includes limited Agent requests and access to Composer. The Individual plan, billed monthly, comes as Pro at $20/month, Pro+ at $60/month (3x Pro's Agent limits) and Ultra at $200/month (20x); yearly billing shows them at $16, $48 and $160 a month. Developers in India can buy Start instead, at ₹649 a month tax inclusive, which covers the Cursor Models pool. Teams is $40 per user per month for Standard seats or $120 for Premium seats with 5x Standard's Agent limits ($32 and $96 on yearly billing), adding centralized billing, SAML/OIDC SSO, usage analytics, team-wide privacy mode and Bugbot code reviews. Enterprise is custom, with pooled usage, invoice billing, SCIM and audit logs. Past a plan's included usage, on-demand usage runs at the same API rates.
What the entry paid plan buys. Cursor Pro at $20/month lifts Hobby's limited Agent requests to extended limits and adds frontier models, cloud agents, Grok Bot, MCPs, skills and hooks, plus Bugbot on usage-based billing; Cursor's docs say it includes unlimited Tab completions. Cursor itself recommends Pro+ for daily agent users, and its docs estimate that daily Agent users typically consume $60 to $100 a month in total usage. Cline's first paid step is optional: ClinePass for open-weight models, or credits and API keys billed per token.
Worked example: a five-person team. Cursor Teams with five Standard seats costs $200 a month billed monthly, or $160 a month on yearly billing, before any on-demand usage. On Cline's open-source version the same team pays no seat fees; the bill is the inference it uses. Five ClinePass subscriptions come to $49.95 a month for open-weight model quotas, and anyone who wants Claude, GPT or Gemini models adds API usage or Cline credits on top. SSO, centralized billing and a team dashboard from Cline mean Enterprise, at a custom price.
Pros & Cons
Cline
- Free and open source (Apache 2.0), with no subscription or seat fees for the open-source version
- Works with any major provider, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint or a local model, so you set price and quality per task
- Runs inside the editor you already use, including VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf and JetBrains IDEs
- Plan mode, per-action approval and shadow-Git checkpoints keep you in control
- Own-key requests go straight from your machine to your model provider
- You manage keys, model choice and per-token spend yourself
- Results vary with the model you connect
- SSO, role-based access and centralized billing need the custom-priced Enterprise plan
- Free models are rotating, limited-time promotions, and their usage may be used to improve models
- Cline Desktop was announced in September 2026, and its Windows support is in beta
Cursor
- One subscription covers the editor, agent, Tab autocomplete, cloud agents and included model usage
- First-party Grok and Composer models alongside Claude, GPT-5.6 and Gemini
- Tab predicts multi-line and cross-file edits as you type
- Cloud agents you can start from the web, your phone, Slack, GitHub or Linear
- AIUC-1, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 42001 certifications, plus a SOC 2 Type II attestation
- Heavy agent use costs more: Cursor recommends Pro+ ($60/mo) for daily agent users
- All requests, own-key ones included, route through Cursor's servers
- On Teams and Enterprise, third-party model requests carry a $0.25 per million token Cursor Token Rate, even with your own key
- Extensions come from the Open VSX registry, and Cursor says not all VS Code extensions may be listed or work the same way
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Cline if you:
- → Want to keep your current editor, whether VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf or a JetBrains IDE
- → Want to pick the model per task, including local models through Ollama or LM Studio
- → Prefer paying per token, or $9.99/mo for ClinePass, over a per-seat subscription
- → Need own-key requests to go straight to your provider, or an Enterprise deployment in your VPC, on-prem or air-gapped
Choose Cursor if you:
- → Want one subscription for the editor, agent, autocomplete and model usage
- → Rely on Tab autocomplete for multi-line and cross-file edits
- → Want cloud agents you can start from the web, your phone, Slack, GitHub or Linear
- → Need team admin at a published price: Teams from $40 per user per month, with SSO
Bottom Line
Both tools put an AI agent to work planning, editing files and running commands, and both are free to start; the real split is the business model. Cline is an open-source agent for the editor you already use, paid for through your own model bills, ClinePass or Cline credits, which suits developers who want control over models, costs and where requests go. Cursor (4.8/5) is an agent-first editor sold by subscription, which suits people who want Tab, first-party models, cloud agents and team admin in one package; Cline scores 4.4/5.
Frequently asked questions
Cline vs Cursor, which one should I pick?
Pick Cline if you want an open-source agent inside the editor you already use, running on the model you choose: your own keys, local models, Cline credits or ClinePass. Pick Cursor if you want an agent-first editor with Tab autocomplete, first-party Grok and Composer models, cloud agents and Bugbot code review in one subscription. Cursor scores 4.8/5 in our review and Cline scores 4.4/5.
Is Cline cheaper than Cursor?
It can be. Cline's open-source version has no subscription or seat fee: you pay for inference through your own keys, pay-as-you-go Cline credits or ClinePass at $9.99 a month. Cursor charges $20/mo for Pro, $60/mo for Pro+ and $200/mo for Ultra billed monthly ($16, $48 and $160 a month on yearly billing), and $40 or $120 per user per month for Teams.
Does Cline or Cursor have a free plan?
Both do. Cline's open-source extension and CLI are free, with no subscriptions or seat fees; you pay for model usage, and Cline runs rotating, limited-time free model promotions for users with a Cline account. Cursor's Hobby plan is free, needs no credit card and includes limited Agent requests and access to Composer.
Can I use Cline inside Cursor?
Yes. Cline's install guide lists Cursor alongside VS Code, Windsurf, VSCodium and Antigravity, with the same steps: open Extensions, search for Cline and install it. Cline's model usage is then billed through your own keys, Cline credits or ClinePass, separately from any Cursor plan.
Who owns Cursor now?
SpaceX. Cursor announced on August 14, 2026 that it had officially been acquired by SpaceX, completing a process that began in April with a model-training partnership with SpaceXAI. Cursor's subscriptions are still sold directly through cursor.com, and its paid individual and Teams plans now include Grok Bot. Cline is made by Cline Bot Inc.
Which one works in JetBrains IDEs?
Both, in different ways. Cursor's agent runs in IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm and other JetBrains IDEs through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), with a paid Cursor plan and JetBrains' AI Assistant plugin (2025.1 or later). Cline's docs give install steps for its JetBrains plugin, which its pricing page lists among Enterprise features, and the Cline CLI can also run in JetBrains AI Assistant through ACP.