Kilo Code vs Cline: two open source coding agents compared

What is the difference between Kilo Code and Cline?

Kilo Code and Cline are both open source AI coding agents for VS Code, JetBrains and the terminal, and they share history: Kilo started as a fork of Roo Code, which was a fork of Cline. Today Kilo is built on its own CLI, a fork of OpenCode, with several built-in agents and a model gateway, while Cline keeps its Plan and Act workflow and asks for approval on every action by default. Both let you bring your own model.

So the choice is less about features on a checklist and more about workflow and ecosystem. Everything below comes from the official docs and pricing pages as of 26 October 2026.

How are Kilo Code and Cline related?

Kilo's own blog tells the story. A March 2025 post says: "We then forked the Roo Code VSCode extension (which itself is a fork of Cline)." A May 2026 post adds: "Kilo did not start from a blank repo. It came through Cline and Roo, then later rebuilt large parts of the stack around OpenCode."

The current docs confirm the new base. The Kilo CLI page says "The Kilo CLI is a fork of OpenCode and supports the same configuration options," and the installation page says "The current Kilo Code extension is built on the Kilo CLI." The Kilo docs also note that Kilo has been acquired by Anaconda.

Roo Code itself is gone. Its repository was archived on 15 May 2026 with the note "The Roo Code Extension was shut down on May 15th," pointing users to ZooCode and to Cline, "from where Roo Code originated."

How does Kilo Code work?

The Kilo Code repo is MIT licensed and covers a VS Code extension, a JetBrains plugin and a CLI:

# VS Code extension
code --install-extension kilocode.Kilo-Code

# CLI
npm install -g @kilocode/cli
kilo

Kilo calls its modes agents. The agents page lists code (the default, with all tools), ask (read-only; write operations are blocked), plan (read-only except plan files in .kilo/plans/) and debug (all tools). An orchestrator agent is deprecated because code, plan and debug now delegate to subagents directly. You switch with the agent dropdown, /agents or Cmd+. (Ctrl+. on Windows and Linux).

Kilo also has inline autocomplete, checkpoints, a Cloud Agent and automated code reviews. For scripts, kilo run --auto "Implement feature X" runs without approval prompts, and kilo serve starts a headless server. Our Kilo Code guide covers setup in more depth.

How does Cline work?

The Cline repo is Apache 2.0 licensed and describes an "Autonomous coding agent as an SDK, IDE extension, or CLI assistant." Its overview says it "can read and write files, run terminal commands, use a browser, and help you build features through natural conversation," and "Every action requires your explicit approval."

The extension installs in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and Antigravity, there is a JetBrains plugin, the overview lists Zed among supported editors, and Neovim works through ACP mode. The CLI needs Node.js 20 or newer:

npm install -g cline
cline auth
cline

Cline's core workflow is Plan and Act. In Plan mode, Cline reads code and runs searches but cannot edit files or run commands. When you switch to Act, "Cline retains the full context from your planning session" and carries out the plan. You can set a different model for each mode, and /deep-planning runs a longer planning pass for big tasks. Cline also offers a desktop app, Kanban for parallel agents in git worktrees, and an SDK. See our Cline guide.

How do Kilo Code and Cline compare side by side?

How do rules, skills and MCP compare?

Rules. Kilo's custom rules page puts rules in the instructions key of kilo.jsonc, pointing at files or globs such as .kilo/rules/*.md, with global rules in ~/.config/kilo/kilo.jsonc. Older .kilocode/rules/ folders still load. Cline's rules page reads .clinerules/ or .cline/rules/ in the project and ~/Documents/Cline/Rules globally, and also detects .cursorrules, .windsurfrules and AGENTS.md, each with its own toggle in the Rules panel.

Both read AGENTS.md. Kilo's AGENTS.md page says the filename "must be uppercase (AGENTS.md), not lowercase (agents.md)," and "Per-directory AGENTS.md files are dynamically loaded when the agent reads files in that directory." Keeping shared rules there is the easiest way to run both tools on one repo.

Skills. Both follow the Agent Skills format. Kilo's skills page lists .kilo/skills/ and ~/.kilo/skills/, loads .agents/skills/ and ~/.agents/skills/ by default, and adds .claude/skills/ only when Claude Code Compatibility is on. Cline's skills page lists .cline/skills/, .clinerules/skills/ and .claude/skills/ in a project and ~/.cline/skills/ globally, and its config page adds .agents/skills/. One .agents/skills/ folder works in both.

MCP. Kilo stores servers under the mcp key in kilo.jsonc, with "type": "local" and a command array or "type": "remote" and a URL. Cline stores them under mcpServers in cline_mcp_settings.json, and its MCP page recommends setting "type": "streamableHttp" for remote servers because leaving type out falls back to legacy SSE. The formats differ, so configure each tool separately. The MCP servers roundup has servers worth trying.

How do models and pricing compare?

Both tools are free to install and both accept your own provider keys or local models, so you can use either without paying the vendor anything.

Kilo sells inference through Kilo Gateway. As of October 2026, Kilo's pricing page says the gateway offers 500+ models from 60+ providers and to "Pay exact provider rates with no markup," with a 5% processing fee on credit purchases. Kilo Pass starts at $19 a month with "Up to 50% bonus credits," Teams is $15 per user a month and Enterprise is custom. Cloud Agent and code review compute are priced per hour and billed per second.

Cline offers a pay-as-you-go Cline provider with "access to 100+ models," and its free options are the models tagged FREE in the model selector. As of October 2026, ClinePass is "$9.99/month" and "offers 2-5x the usage on popular open coding models compared to standard API rate," measured against 5-hour, weekly and monthly windows.

Which should you pick?

Start with how you like to direct the agent.

Kilo Code tends to fit when:

• You want several built-in agents, such as ask, plan and debug, plus your own custom agents.
• You want one gateway with hundreds of models at provider rates, or team billing at $15 per user.
• You already use OpenCode and want the same configuration style.

Cline tends to fit when:

• You want a simple Plan then Act loop, with a different model for each step.
• You want approval on every action by default.
• You want an SDK to build your own agents on Cline's agent core.
• You keep .cursorrules or .windsurfrules files, which Cline detects and lists in its Rules panel.

Former Roo Code users will find both familiar. Keep shared instructions in AGENTS.md and skills in .agents/skills/, and switching later is cheap. To see how Cline compares with an editor, read Cline vs Cursor, and for a terminal agent, Claude Code vs Cline.

Keep your skills outside any one extension

Kilo and Cline both read .agents/skills/, so a skill library you own can feed either one. Kipt stores your prompts and Agent Skills as Markdown in a private GitHub repo you own, with Cmd+K search and imports from a GitHub link, a folder or a .zip. Copy a skill folder into .agents/skills/ and both extensions load it. To start one from a prompt you already use, try the free SKILL.md generator.