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Both are on this list because they are genuinely good at something. The question is which something you need. Below is the factual comparison, then the honest answer about who each one is for.
Reviewed July 25, 2026 · pricing changes often, check the vendor
| Cline | Roo Code | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Cline / community | Roo Code / community |
| Where it runs | IDE plugin | IDE plugin |
| Models | Provider-agnostic, including local models via OpenRouter/Ollama | Provider-agnostic |
| Pricing | Free and open source · bring your own API key | Free and open source · bring your own API key |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Working inside VS Code on changes you want to see approved step by step rather than in one big diff. | Enforcing what an agent is allowed to touch at different stages of the work. |
Plan-then-act is the right default and it is built into the interface, not a prompt you have to remember
Every file write and command is shown before it runs
MCP support makes it extensible to your own systems
Step-by-step approval is safe and slow; long tasks mean a lot of clicking
Token spend can climb quickly without careful model selection
VS Code only
Custom modes are the cleanest permission model in this list
Inherits Cline's step-approval safety
Fully open source
Modes need designing before they pay off
VS Code only
Fast-moving; expect churn
Pick Cline if working inside VS Code on changes you want to see approved step by step rather than in one big diff.
Pick Roo Code if enforcing what an agent is allowed to touch at different stages of the work.
And a thing worth saying plainly: the gap between these two is smaller than the gap between a repo that tells an agent what it is and one that does not. If you are choosing between them to fix inconsistent output, the tool is probably not the variable. The free Foundations track covers the part that is.