Do I need to bring my own API key?

Cline requires you to bring your own API key and has no managed pricing tier. Sourcegraph Cody's API key requirements are not recorded in the fact sheet.

Where can I run each tool?

Cline is available as a VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, and CLI. Cody is available as a VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, and web app.

Is the source code available?

Cline is open source under Apache 2.0 with a public repo at github.com/cline/cline. Cody lists no public repo.

How is pricing structured?

Cline is listed as Free. Cody is listed as freemium, but the starting price is not recorded and verified plans are not on file for either tool.

Cline vs Sourcegraph Cody: How They Actually Differ

Cline fits solo builders and small teams who live in VS Code and want an open, inspectable agent they run with their own API key. Sourcegraph Cody suits teams working on large monorepos that need semantic search grounded in their own code, with a self-hosted option.

Compiled 2026-09-03 from our catalogue entries for Cline and Sourcegraph Cody.

The short answer

Pick Cline if: you work primarily in VS Code and want an open-source agent with a transparent loop, plan/act modes, and approval-gated terminal commands, and you are willing to supply your own API key.
Pick Sourcegraph Cody if: you work with a large monorepo and need semantic, regex, and structural search feeding an LLM, and you may need a self-hosted option that keeps source on your own infrastructure.
Cheapest way in: Cline is listed as Free, though it requires you to bring your own API key and per-task budgets are not included. Sourcegraph Cody is listed as freemium with the starting price not recorded.
What we could not compare: Verified plan pricing for either product is not on file, Cody's source repo is not listed, and no docs links were provided for either tool.

Cline is an autonomous coding agent that runs inside VS Code; Sourcegraph Cody is a code-search and AI assistant from Sourcegraph. Both sit in the AI Coding Agents category but start from different points.

Cline is built around editor-native execution and an open agent loop you can inspect. Cody is built around indexing large codebases and feeding that context into the LLM. The split comes down to whether you want edits inside your IDE or grounded answers across a large repo.

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	Sourcegraph Cody
Pricing model	Free	Freemium
Starts at	Free	Not recorded
Runs on	vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin, cli	vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin, web
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 as a VS Code extension with no separate app to install, and is also listed as a JetBrains plugin and CLI.
Open source under Apache 2.0 with a public repo on GitHub and an agent loop you can inspect.
Supports plan/act modes and approval-gated terminal execution, keeping a human in the loop.

Full Cline entry

Where Sourcegraph Cody is the better fit

Indexes very large monorepos for semantic, regex, and structural search.
Self-hosted Enterprise option keeps source code on customer infrastructure.
Combines code-search context with LLM answers to reduce hallucinations on internal APIs.

Full Sourcegraph Cody entry

Which one should you pick?

Solo founder shipping in VS Code

Cline

It runs in the editor you already use, is open source under Apache 2.0, and lets you inspect the agent loop.

Small team with a large monorepo

Sourcegraph Cody

Semantic, regex, and structural search across big codebases grounds the assistant in your real code.

Team that must self-host

Sourcegraph Cody

It has a self-hosted Enterprise option that keeps source code on customer infrastructure.

Builder who wants a CLI agent

Cline

Cline lists a CLI among its platforms; Cody lists a web platform but not a CLI.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to bring my own API key?: Cline requires you to bring your own API key and has no managed pricing tier. Sourcegraph Cody's API key requirements are not recorded in the fact sheet.
Where can I run each tool?: Cline is available as a VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, and CLI. Cody is available as a VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, and web app.
Is the source code available?: Cline is open source under Apache 2.0 with a public repo at github.com/cline/cline. Cody lists no public repo.
How is pricing structured?: Cline is listed as Free. Cody is listed as freemium, but the starting price is not recorded and verified plans are not on file for either tool.

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/sourcegraph-cody — checked 2026-05-25 · 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.

## Sourcegraph Cody (/tools/sourcegraph-cody)
Tagline: Code-search and AI assistant by Sourcegraph — semantic search across enterprise codebases plus inline coding help.
Category: AI Coding Agents
Pricing model: freemium
Starts at: Not recorded
Platforms: vscode-ext, jetbrains-plugin, web
Public repo: none listed
Docs: none listed
Verified plans: none on file
Strengths on file: Indexes very large monorepos for semantic, regex, and structural search.; Self-hosted Enterprise option keeps source code on customer infrastructure.; Combines code-search context with LLM answers, reducing hallucinations on internal APIs.
Limits on file: Setup and indexing for self-hosted deployment is non-trivial.; Pricing shifts from per-seat to enterprise contract at scale.
Sourcegraph Cody is a code-search and AI assistant from Sourcegraph — semantic search across large codebases paired with inline coding help.
Its differentiator is search-grounded answers: it indexes very large monorepos for semantic, regex, and structural search and feeds that context to the model, which cuts hallucinations on internal APIs. A self-hosted Enterprise option keeps source on your own infrastructure.
It fits enterprises with big codebases that want AI grounded in their own code and control over where it runs. Caveats: self-hosted setup and indexing are non-trivial, and pricing moves from per-seat to an enterprise contract at scale.
It's the code-search-first assistant, where Copilot and Cursor lead with completion and editing.

Change log

2026-09-03 — First published, compiled from the catalogue entries for Cline and Sourcegraph Cody.