Cline vs Cursor
Compare Cline and Cursor on pricing, free tier, open source, API, self-host, verdict and momentum.
Both are coding tools. Cline is freemium (extension/CLI free for individuals (BYOK or Cline inference at cost); optional ClinePass $9.99/mo for open-weight models; Enterprise custom (SSO, JetBrains, SLA)) with open source, an API, self-hostable and a free tier; Cursor is freemium (Hobby free; Pro $20/mo; Pro+ $60/mo (3× Agent limits); Ultra $200/mo (20×); Teams from $40/user/mo) with a free tier. The catalog stamp is situational for Cline and ship for Cursor, last verified 2026-08-24 and 2026-09-01 respectively.
Cline
Open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code and CLI — BYOK, you pay the model bill.
Cursor
AI-first code editor (VS Code fork) with agent mode and inline edits.
| field | Cline | Cursor |
|---|---|---|
| pricing | freemium · extension/CLI free for individuals (BYOK or Cline inference at cost); optional ClinePass $9.99/mo for open-weight models; Enterprise custom (SSO, JetBrains, SLA) | freemium · Hobby free; Pro $20/mo; Pro+ $60/mo (3× Agent limits); Ultra $200/mo (20×); Teams from $40/user/mo |
| free tier | yes | yes |
| open source | yes | no |
| api | yes | no |
| self-host | yes | no |
| verdict | situational | ship |
| momentum | blueshift | blueshift |
| last verified | 2026-08-24 | 2026-09-01 |
| key limitation | Inference is usage-based; a long agent session can exceed a $20 IDE sub. | Pro plan token limits throttle heavy agent sessions mid-month. |
The call
Pick Cline if open source matters.
Pick Cursor — we ship it; Cline is situational for us.
Cline sources
Cursor sources
Open live compare →Cline pageCursor pageCline.jsonCursor.json