Cline vs Cody
Pricing
Cline: Free (open source), you pay for the AI API you choose
Cody: Enterprise only, from $16,000 a year
Description
Cline: Open-source VS Code extension that acts as an autonomous coding agent. Bring your own AI model
Cody: Sourcegraph's AI coding assistant, sold only with Sourcegraph Enterprise since the Free and Pro plans ended in July 2025
Pros
- Use any AI model (Claude, GPT-4, Gemini, local models): you control the cost
- Can browse the web, run terminal commands, create files, and edit code autonomously
- Free and open source: no subscription, just API costs
- Uses Sourcegraph's code search to answer questions across large codebases
- Works in VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio (experimental), the Sourcegraph web app and a CLI
- Sourcegraph says it does not use customer data to train models
Cons
- API costs are on you and can surprise you if you are not watching
- Setup takes more work than commercial alternatives: API keys, model selection, configuration
- Quality depends entirely on which AI model you pick
- No plan for individuals: Cody Free and Cody Pro ended on 23 July 2025
- Sourcegraph Enterprise requires a yearly contract starting at $16,000
- Built for engineering organizations, not solo founders
Details
Cline is a VS Code extension that turns your editor into an AI coding agent. Pick your AI model (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, local models through Ollama), give it a task, and it will plan, write code, run commands, and iterate. It asks for permission before each action, so you stay in control.
The big advantage over Cursor is flexibility and transparency. You see exactly what you are paying (API costs per request), you can switch models anytime, and there is no subscription. The big disadvantage is that you have to manage all of that yourself. If you want something that just works out of the box, Cursor is easier. If you want to pick your own model and only pay for what you use, Cline is the way.
Cody’s strength is Sourcegraph’s code graph. While most AI tools see only the files you have open, Cody can draw on an index of your whole repository, so it can answer questions like “where is the authentication logic?” even when those files are closed.
Sourcegraph stopped new Cody Free and Pro sign-ups on 25 June 2025 and ended both plans on 23 July 2025. Cody is now available only on Sourcegraph Enterprise, which starts at a $16,000 yearly contract, and Sourcegraph pointed individual users to Amp, its separate coding agent. For a solo founder, GitHub Copilot is the closest low-cost editor assistant, Cursor gives whole-codebase context in a full editor, and Claude Code works across a repository from the terminal.
Cline verified
Cody verified
