Continue vs Replit Agent
Pricing
Continue: Free (open source), no longer maintained since June 2026
Replit Agent: Free trial, Core from $25/mo (plus usage credits)
Description
Continue: Open-source AI assistant for VS Code and JetBrains. Cursor acquired it in June 2026 and the project is now read-only
Replit Agent: Describe what you want, and Replit's AI builds the whole app: database, auth, deployment, all in the cloud
Pros
- The final 2.0 release still installs for free from the VS Code Marketplace, Open VSX and npm
- Works with your own API keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini and others) or local models through Ollama and LM Studio
- The code stays available under the Apache 2.0 license, so anyone can fork it
- Truly end-to-end: goes from description to deployed app
- Built-in hosting means your app is live the moment it is built
- Handles databases, auth, and deployment so you do not have to think about infrastructure
Cons
- No longer maintained: no bug fixes, security patches or support for new models
- Hosted accounts and sign-in were retired after the acquisition
- Requires setup: picking a model, getting API keys, configuring the tool
- You are locked into Replit's hosting: migrating away later is painful
- Less control over architecture decisions and code structure
- Usage-based pricing (effort-based) means costs are unpredictable
Details
Continue was the “bring your own model” approach to AI coding: a free, open-source extension for VS Code and JetBrains, plus a CLI, that connected to the LLM of your choice, from cloud APIs like Claude to local models through Ollama. You got autocomplete, chat and inline editing without a subscription.
In June 2026 Cursor acquired Continue. The team shipped a final 2.0 release on 19 June 2026, retired hosted accounts and sign-in, and made the GitHub repository read-only. The extensions still install and run with your own keys, but nothing will be fixed or updated. For the same free, model-agnostic setup with active development, use Cline inside VS Code, or Aider or Claude Code in the terminal.
Replit Agent is the closest thing to “describe your app and get it built.” You write a description, it plans the architecture, writes the code, sets up the database, and deploys, all without leaving the browser. For non-technical founders, this is genuinely powerful.
The tradeoff is control. You are building on Replit’s platform, and moving your app somewhere else later is not straightforward. The new effort-based pricing means simple changes cost pennies, but complex features can add up. Best for validating ideas fast or building internal tools where long-term architecture matters less than getting something working today.
Continue verified
Replit Agent verified
