Cline vs Roo Code vs Continue 2026: Open-Source AI Coding Agents Compared

## 1. Introduction 2024-2026 saw open-source AI coding plugins rise alongside premium tools (Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf). Three advantages: free plugin, transparency, local model support. ## 2. Overview ## 3. Strengths - **Cline:** most popular OSS agent, widest MCP ecosystem (OSS), Plan/Act mode, rich tool set - **Roo Code:** Cline fork with Custom Modes (Architect/Code/Debug/Ask), faster community iteration - **Continue:** JetBrains support (only OSS option), inline completion + chat, custom slash commands ## 4. Cost vs Subscription Heavy Anthropic Sonnet usage may exceed Cursor's $20/mo. Light usage with DeepSeek V3 (~$0.27/$1.10 per 1M token) or local Ollama ($0) is cheaper. ## 5. Local Ollama + Cline = 100% KVKK Compliance For Turkish banks, defense, healthcare: Cline + Ollama + DeepSeek V3 / Qwen local. Data never leaves the company. Hardware investment amortized in 6 months. ## 6. Scenarios - Solo light: Cline + Claude Sonnet ($40/mo) - Solo heavy: Cursor Pro ($20) - KVKK-critical: Cline + Ollama local - JetBrains: Continue (only option) - Budget student: Continue + Gemini Flash or Cline + Ollama ## 7. Conclusion Open-source plugins are mature in 2026. BYO API key + local Ollama give full cost and KVKK control. Hybrid is strongest: Continue (JetBrains inline) + Cline (VS Code agentic) + local Ollama for sensitive work.