VS Code · Open source · Plan & Act · Free & private

Cline
The affordable alternative to Copilot

So you wanted to use AI for your development and it turned out pretty expensive? Then take a look at the Cline extension for Visual Studio Code — an easy, configurable AI chat with plan and agentic possibilities.

Install Cline for VS CodeLearn more at cline.bot
Plan + Actalign first, then execute
Freedaily free models included
~$0.43per 1M DeepSeek input tokens
100%private with local Ollama

Meet Cline

An autonomous coding agent inside your editor — creates and edits files, runs commands, uses the browser, extends via MCP.

Cline welcome screen

It starts with a question. Open the Cline panel and describe your task in plain language.

Cline chat with Plan and Act toggle

Plan, then Act. Agree on strategy in Plan mode, execute in Act mode — auto-approve for reads, edits, commands, web fetch, MCP.

Why it matters
  • Human-in-the-loop: approve every change, or enable auto-approve for autopilot.
  • Any model: hosted APIs, OpenAI-compatible endpoints, local Ollama / LM Studio.
  • Checkpoints & diffs: every step with diffs and one-click undo.

Three ways to use Cline

Several possibilities — pick what fits your wallet and hardware.

OPTION 01

Free models

Subscription with monthly fee exists, but there are free models with limited use per day. If one runs out of tokens, switch model within the same chat and continue.

OPTION 02

Cheap DeepSeek API

No forced Cline subscription: use the cheap DeepSeek model with your DeepSeek API key in Cline.

OPTION 03

Local Ollama

Run an AI agent locally on your machine — private and free except the electricity bill.

Don't hesitate — you don't need the expensive Copilot. 😊

Start free, stay flexible

Recommended and free models right in settings — switch mid-chat when quota runs out.

Cline free models

Free tier. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, Solar Pro 4, Muse Spark 1.3, GLM-5.3-Flash, Laguna S 2.1 marked FREE.

Cline provider dropdown

Any provider. Cline plans, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Anthropic, OpenRouter, Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

Go further with DeepSeek

Cheapest hosted option — paste an API key into Cline and pick a model.

Cline DeepSeek settings

Two fields and you code. Provider DeepSeek, API key stored locally, model deepseek-v4-pro, 1M context. Pricing shown: $0.43/1M in, $0.87/1M out.

Get a key
  • 1. Account at DeepSeek dashboard.
  • 2. Top up balance, create API key.
  • 3. Cline: Provider DeepSeek, paste key, pick model, set reasoning effort.
  • 4. Watch token/cost counter per task.

Go fully private with Ollama

Open models on your own machine — nothing local ever leaves it.

Cline Ollama settings

Point Cline at localhost. Provider Ollama, URL http://localhost:11434, model deepseek-r1:8b.

What you need
  • GPU: 16GB VRAM great, 24GB pro.
  • 1. Download Ollama.
  • 2. ollama pull deepseek-r1:8b. Browse library.
  • 3. Keep Ollama running.
fetch deepseek-r1:8b, then start it

Which option to pick?

Quick comparison.

OptionCostPrivacyBest for
Free modelsFree, limited/dayCloudTrying Cline, small tasks
SubscriptionMonthly feeCloudHeavy daily use
DeepSeek APICheap pay-as-you-goCloudBig tasks, 1M context
Local OllamaFree after hardwareFully privateSensitive code, offline

Tip: combine them

Draft Plan on free model, Act on DeepSeek, secrets on Ollama.

Watch the meter

Each chat shows a live cost pill (top right, starting at $0.0000) — tokens × model price, updated per request. See cost pill.

Extend with MCP

Ask Cline to add a tool for Jira, AWS, DBs.

Every chat visualises the money spent

Each Cline chat header carries a live cost pill — no surprises on your bill.

▾⧉🗑$0.0000✕

Starts at $0.0000, ticks up per request. The pill multiplies your input/output tokens by the active model's price, so you see exactly what the current chat costs.

  • Per chat, not global: open a fresh chat and the counter restarts — compare what different tasks really cost.
  • Free & local stay at $0.0000: free-tier models cost nothing until quota runs out; Ollama never moves the needle.
  • Switch trigger: pill climbing fast? Switch to a cheaper/free model within the same chat and keep working.