Cursor vs Cline: free plans compared
Here is what each gives you for free, from the vendors’ pricing pages, with the date we last verified each offer (latest ).
- Cursor
- Cursor is an AI coding agent and editor available as a desktop app and a CLI. You describe a task and Cursor's agents plan, write and review code across your project. Plans share one AI usage pool across Cursor and Grok products.
- How to get Cursor freeFree Cursor alternatives
- Cline
- Cline is an open-source AI coding agent for VS Code, the terminal and desktop, with Plan and Act modes and MCP support. It is free for individuals; you pay only for model inference.
- How to get Cline free
| Free plan |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| How long it's free | Free forever | Free forever |
| Cheapest paid plan | $8/moPlus | Not in our data |
| Best for | Build a web app, Build a website, Write code with AI, Build AI agentsDevelopers, Indie hackers | Write code with AI, Build AI agentsDevelopers |
| Limitations |
|
|
| How to get it free | Free account · email
| Self-host
|
| Free offer verified |
Cursor vs Cline: common questions
- Is Cursor or Cline free?
- Both have a free option. Cursor has a free plan: Limited agent and chat requests (checked 2026-10-18). Cline has a free plan: Free: open-source extension, bring your own API key (checked 2026-10-18).
- Which free plan includes more?
- It depends on what you need; here is what each free plan includes. Cursor: Limited agent requests; Limited chat requests (source: cursor.com, checked 2026-10-18). Cline: Free: open-source extension, bring your own API key (source: cline.bot, checked 2026-10-18).
- How do I get each for free?
- Cursor: Download Cursor; Sign up with your email; Use the Free plan's limited agent and chat requests (checked 2026-10-18). Cline: Install the Cline extension in VS Code; Connect a model provider or your own API key (checked 2026-10-18).