Is Cline free to start?

Cline has a free pricing model and a Free starting point, but it requires your own API key and has no managed pricing tier.

Does Greptile have a free plan?

The fact sheet lists Starter Free, but it also says no free tier is offered. We do not have a consistent free-plan answer in the file.

Which platforms are listed for each product?

Cline lists vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin, and cli. Greptile lists web and cli as platforms, but the file says review functionality is only available through the web, with no IDE plugin or CLI client.

Does Greptile need GitHub or GitLab?

It integrates with GitHub and GitLab repositories, and its code must be hosted on a supported Git provider.

What information is not recorded for a direct comparison?

Usage allowances, API-key costs, review limits, and performance results are not recorded for a direct comparison.

Cline vs Greptile: How They Actually Differ

Cline suits a solo founder or small team that works in VS Code, wants an open-source agent with inspectable plan/act and approval-gated terminal execution, and can bring its own API key. Greptile suits a team that wants whole-repository PR review comments through the web, is listed as paid, and integrates with GitHub or GitLab.

Compiled 2026-08-25 from our catalogue entries for Cline and Greptile.

The short answer

Pick Cline if: You want an open-source agent inside VS Code, with an inspectable agent loop, plan/act modes, and approval-gated terminal execution. You must bring your own API key.
Pick Greptile if: You want an AI code reviewer that analyzes the entire repository, posts review comments on pull requests, and integrates with GitHub or GitLab repositories.
Cheapest way in: Cline lists a free pricing model and a Free start, but it requires your own API key. Greptile lists Starter Free and also says no free tier is offered.
What we could not compare: Usage allowances, API-key costs, review limits, and performance results are not recorded for a direct comparison. The file contains both Starter Free and no free tier is offered for Greptile.

Cline and Greptile are both listed in the AI Coding Agents category, but they cover different work. Cline is an autonomous coding agent that runs inside VS Code, with no separate app, an open-source Apache 2.0 agent loop you can inspect, plan/act modes, and approval-gated terminal execution. Greptile is an AI code reviewer that comments on pull requests using the whole codebase, not only the diff, and integrates with GitHub and GitLab.

Cline is listed as free and requires your own API key, with no managed pricing tier and cost that can escalate quickly without per-task budgets. Greptile is listed as paid. Its verified plans are Starter Free, Pro $30 /seat/month, and Enterprise Custom pricing, while the limits section says no free tier is offered. Greptile review functionality is available through the web, with no IDE plugin or CLI client, and code must be hosted on a supported Git provider.

Side by side

Every cell is a field on our catalogue entry for that tool, copied as recorded. Rows where the two differ come first; blank fields say so rather than being filled in.

	Cline	Greptile
Pricing model	Free	Paid
Starts at	Free	Pro — $30 /seat/month
Runs on	vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin, cli	web, cli
Public source code	Yes — public repo	No public repo listed
Category	AI Coding Agents	AI Coding Agents
Public docs	Not listed	Not listed

Public source code: From the repository link on each catalogue entry, not a licence audit.

Where Cline is the better fit

Runs inside VS Code as an extension, with no separate app to install.
Is open source under Apache 2.0 and has a public repository.
Supports plan/act modes and approval-gated terminal execution, with an agent loop you can inspect.

Full Cline entry

Where Greptile is the better fit

Analyzes the entire repository context rather than only changed lines in a pull request.
Posts review comments directly on pull requests in the connected Git host, including GitHub and GitLab.
Uses large language models to reason about cross-file relationships and project conventions during review.

Full Greptile entry · Greptile pricing, verified

Which one should you pick?

Solo founder working in VS Code

Cline

It runs inside VS Code, is open source under Apache 2.0, and supports plan/act modes with approval-gated terminal execution. Bring your own API key.

Small team reviewing GitHub or GitLab pull requests

Greptile

It analyzes the entire repository context, posts review comments directly on pull requests, and integrates with GitHub and GitLab. It is listed as paid.

Builder wanting an agent with listed non-web platforms

Cline

Cline lists vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin, and cli platforms. Greptile review functionality is listed as web-only, with no IDE plugin or CLI client.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cline free to start?: Cline has a free pricing model and a Free starting point, but it requires your own API key and has no managed pricing tier.
Does Greptile have a free plan?: The fact sheet lists Starter Free, but it also says no free tier is offered. We do not have a consistent free-plan answer in the file.
Which platforms are listed for each product?: Cline lists vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin, and cli. Greptile lists web and cli as platforms, but the file says review functionality is only available through the web, with no IDE plugin or CLI client.
Does Greptile need GitHub or GitLab?: It integrates with GitHub and GitLab repositories, and its code must be hosted on a supported Git provider.
What information is not recorded for a direct comparison?: Usage allowances, API-key costs, review limits, and performance results are not recorded for a direct comparison.

What we compared

This page states nothing that is not in the two catalogue entries below. The exact text used to write it is reproduced here so you can check our reading, and both tools link through to their own pages and to the vendor.

/tools/cline — checked 2026-05-25 · official site
/tools/greptile — checked 2026-06-13 · official site

Show the source text

## Cline (/tools/cline)
Tagline: Open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code, formerly known as Claude Dev.
Category: AI Coding Agents
Pricing model: free
Starts at: Free
Platforms: vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin, cli
Public repo: https://github.com/cline/cline
Docs: none listed
Verified plans: none on file
Strengths on file: Runs inside VS Code as an extension, no separate app to install.; Open source under Apache 2.0; transparent agent loop you can inspect.; Supports plan/act modes and approval-gated terminal execution.
Limits on file: Requires bringing your own API key — no managed pricing tier.; Cost can escalate quickly without per-task budgets.
Cline is an open-source autonomous coding agent that runs inside VS Code — formerly known as Claude Dev.
Its draw is transparency in a familiar editor: it's a VS Code extension with no separate app, open source under Apache 2.0 with an agent loop you can inspect, and it supports plan/act modes with approval-gated terminal execution.
It's for VS Code users who want an inspectable agent with a human in the loop. Two caveats: it needs your own API key — there's no managed pricing tier — and cost can escalate quickly without per-task budgets.
It's the in-VS-Code, open option next to terminal agents like Aider and Claude Code.

## Greptile (/tools/greptile)
Tagline: AI-powered code review that comments on PRs by understanding the entire codebase, not just the diff.
Category: AI Coding Agents
Pricing model: paid
Starts at: Pro — $30 /seat/month
Platforms: web, cli
Public repo: none listed
Docs: none listed
Verified plans (read 2026-08-21): Starter Free | Pro $30 /seat/month | Enterprise Custom pricing
Strengths on file: Analyzes the entire repository context rather than only the changed lines in a pull request.; Posts review comments directly on pull requests in the connected Git host.; Integrates with GitHub (and GitLab) repositories to ingest and review code.; Uses large language models to reason about cross-file relationships and project conventions during review.
Limits on file: No free tier is offered; access requires a paid plan.; Review functionality is only available through the web platform, with no IDE plugin or CLI client.; Code must be hosted on a supported Git provider, creating dependency on that integration.
Greptile is an AI code reviewer that comments on pull requests by reading the whole codebase, not just the diff.
Its edge is whole-repo context: it analyzes the entire repository rather than only the changed lines, reasoning about cross-file relationships and project conventions, and posts its comments straight onto PRs in your Git host (GitHub and GitLab).
It's for teams that want reviews aware of the broader codebase, not line-by-line diff checks. Caveats: there's no free tier — it's paid only — review runs only through the web platform with no IDE plugin or CLI, and your code has to live on a supported Git provider.
It's a PR-review tool like CodeRabbit, distinct from the in-editor assistants.

Change log

2026-08-25 — First published, compiled from the catalogue entries for Cline and Greptile.