Cline vs Plandex
A side-by-side comparison of two open-source tools to help you choose the right one.
| Feature | CL | PL |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | An autonomous coding agent inside VS Code. | A terminal AI agent for large, real-world projects. |
| GitHub stars | 47K | 13K |
| License | Apache 2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Pricing | Free & Open Source | Free & Open Source |
| Self-hostable | ||
| Replaces | Claude Code, GitHub Copilot | Claude Code |
| Rating | 4.7 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
Cline features
- Plan Mode reviews changes before they're applied
- Edits files and runs commands autonomously
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) tool integration
- Bring your own keys — no vendor lock-in
- Works with frontier and local models
Plandex features
- Massive context window for big codebases
- Diff-review sandbox before applying changes
- Smart context management to control cost
- Version-controlled, reversible changes
- Self-hostable server