Roo Code
Open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code, forked from Cline with multi-mode workflows.
Roo Code is an open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code, forked from Cline with multi-mode workflows. Open-source AI coding agent released under a permissive license.
About Roo Code
Roo Code is an open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code, forked from Cline and adding multi-mode workflows for different kinds of coding tasks.
Its angle is flexibility and openness: a permissively licensed VS Code extension with bring-your-own-key across providers like Claude, GPT, and Gemini, and modes you switch between for different jobs.
It's for VS Code users who want Cline's inspectable, open approach with more workflow structure. Two limits: it's VS Code only — no JetBrains or other IDE extension — and you supply your own API keys rather than getting bundled inference.
It's the multi-mode fork of Cline, in the same open, BYOK, in-VS-Code lane.
Sources: roocode.com, this listing
Roo Code pros and cons
Pros
- Open-source AI coding agent released under a permissive license.
- Runs as a VS Code extension that integrates directly with the editor.
- Forked from Cline while adding multi-mode workflows for different coding tasks.
- Supports bring-your-own-key for multiple LLM providers including Claude, GPT, and Gemini.
Cons
- Limited to VS Code with no JetBrains or other IDE extension available.
- Requires users to supply their own API keys rather than bundling inference.
Tagged
- Bring Your Own Key
- Supports Claude
- Supports GPT
- Supports Gemini
- VS Code Extension
- Agentic Mode
- Multi-file Edits
- Free
- Open Source
Roo Code alternatives
More from AI Coding Agents.
- 01→Agnost AI
Catch agent failures your evals miss
- 02→akta.pro
Private company data and signals API for the agent economy
- 03→Navigara
Connect Your AI Spend Directly to Your Roadmap
- 04→Zero
Vercel's programming language built for AI agents
- 05→OneCLI
Give every employee a secured, sandboxed pro assistant agent
- 06→Epho
Run Claude Code, Codex or Opencode in cloud with your repo
Roo Code vs other tools
Related reading
Featured on Vibedonalds
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</a>Frequently asked questions
- What is Roo Code?
- Roo Code is an open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code, forked from Cline with multi-mode workflows.
- Is Roo Code free?
- Roo Code is free to use. There is no paid tier as of the last index update.
- What platforms does Roo Code support?
- Roo Code runs on vscode-ext.
- What are the alternatives to Roo Code?
- Similar tools in AI Coding Agents on vibedonalds: Agnost AI, akta.pro, Navigara, Zero.
- What are the downsides of Roo Code?
- Limited to VS Code with no JetBrains or other IDE extension available. Requires users to supply their own API keys rather than bundling inference.