Cline vs Continue.dev vs OpenHands — Best Open Source AI Coding Assistant

AI coding assistants have stopped being a novelty and become the default way many developers work. The crowded field keeps splitting into two camps: lightweight assistants that live inside your editor and suggest or edit code, and full autonomous agents that plan, run commands and execute entire tasks. In the open source world, three names rise above the rest in 2026 — Cline, Continue.dev and OpenHands. Here is how they compare and which one fits the way you code.

1. Cline — The human-in-the-loop autonomous agent

Cline is an open-source autonomous coding agent that runs as a VS Code extension, CLI assistant or embedded SDK. It can create and edit files, run terminal commands, browse the web and use tools — but with human-in-the-loop approval on every action, which makes agentic AI safe and transparent to explore.

• Plan-and-Act agent — breaks complex software tasks into steps it can work through autonomously, then verifies the result before moving on.
• Human-in-the-loop approval — every file change and terminal command asks for your permission first, giving you full control.
• Bring-your-own-model — works with Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, Vertex, Azure and any provider, so there is no vendor lock-in.
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) — can create new tools and extend its own capabilities via MCP servers.
• Works across your editor and terminal — available as a VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, terminal CLI and Node.js SDK.
• Web browsing and document access — reads pages and PDFs to gather context for your tasks.

Platforms: VS Code, JetBrains, Terminal (CLI) and Web/Kanban board. Licensed under Apache License 2.0 — free to use; you pay model providers directly or use optional Cline-hosted credits. See our full Cline listing.

2. Continue.dev — The multi-surface coding collaborator

Continue is a pioneering open-source AI coding agent available as a CLI, VS Code extension and JetBrains plugin. It offers agent mode for autonomous development tasks, chat mode for code questions, edit mode for in-file changes and inline autocomplete — all running with your own models and providers.

• Agent mode — work on development tasks together with the AI, executing multi-step changes.
• Chat mode — ask general questions and get clarifications about your codebase.
• Edit mode — modify sections of code without leaving the current file.
• Inline autocomplete — receives code suggestions as you type.
• Continue CLI (cn) — terminal-native AI coding assistance.
• Model flexibility — use local or cloud models through your own providers.

Platforms: VS Code, JetBrains and Terminal (CLI). Licensed under Apache License 2.0 (open source). Continue started as one of the friendliest entry points into open-source AI coding before its acquisition by Cursor — but it remains free and open source. See our full Continue listing.

3. OpenHands — The delegated engineering agent

OpenHands (formerly OpenDevin) is an open-source AI software development agent by All Hands AI that can write code, run commands, browse the web and manage files to perform real engineering work. Give it a task and it plans, edits code, tests its changes and iterates until the job is done — operating inside a sandboxed workspace rather than just suggesting snippets.

• Autonomous Agent Loop — plans, writes, executes and debugs code independently through a long-running feedback loop.
• Sandboxed Environment — every session runs in an isolated container so experiments and builds cannot damage your machine.
• Web & CLI Integration — can browse documentation, search the web and run terminal commands as part of the task.
• Multi-Model Support — works with a range of LLMs including local models and major hosted providers.
• Git & PR Workflow — creates branches and pull requests, and can operate directly on GitHub issues.
• UI + CLI + SDK — use the web dashboard, the headless CLI, or embed it via the Python/Docker SDK.
• Extensible Skills — add custom skills and actions to specialise it for your codebase or workflow.

Platforms: Linux and macOS (Docker required for the sandboxed runtime). Licensed under the MIT License (open source). See our full OpenHands listing.

Head-to-Head

• Autonomy vs control: OpenHands is the most autonomous — it runs a full loop in a sandbox and iterates until done. Cline keeps you in the approval loop on every action. Continue sits in between, with agent mode plus chat, edit and inline modes for lighter assistance.
• Safety model: OpenHands runs inside a sandboxed container, so even a bad experiment cannot damage your machine. Cline asks permission before changing files or running commands. Continue edits directly but offers granular modes so you stay in control.
• Editing surfaces: Cline and Continue live in VS Code and JetBrains with CLI companions. OpenHands is more of a platform — web dashboard, headless CLI and an SDK you can embed.
• Model freedom: All three are bring-your-own-model, so there is no vendor lock-in. You can point any of them at local models via Ollama or at hosted providers.
• GitHub workflow: OpenHands shines here — it creates branches and PRs and can work on GitHub issues. Cline and Continue integrate with git too but are more editor-centric.
• Extension: Cline leads with MCP support and web browsing. Continue excels at lightweight inline assistance. OpenHands wins on custom skills and DOI/workflow specialisation.

Which One Should You Pick?

Choose Cline if you want a powerful agent inside your editor that keeps you in the approval loop — the safest way to let an AI refactor a real codebase. Choose Continue.dev if you want a friendly multi-surface assistant for pair programming, codebase chat and inline completion without leaving your IDE. Choose OpenHands if you want true delegated engineering — point it at a GitHub issue and let it branch, patch, test and open a PR, all inside a sandbox.

The Bottom Line

All three are excellent, genuinely open source and model-agnostic, so the choice comes down to how much autonomy you want. If you like reviewing every diff in your editor, Cline fits best. If you want a lightweight collaborator on every surface, Continue.dev is the friendliest. And if you want an agent that does the whole engineering loop safely on its own, OpenHands is the most complete. Whichever you reach for, you keep your code, your keys and your freedom.

Browse the rest of our free and open source toolkit in the full directory, and if you know an AI coding tool we have missed, submit it so the community can find it.