Cline vs Zed vs OpenHands

Side by side, as alternatives to Claude Code. Rows that differ are highlighted; the strongest value in a row is marked. Unknown means no source yet.

Clinecline/cline

Zedzed-industries/zed

OpenHandsOpenHands/OpenHands

Claude Codepaid product

Cost and coverage

Price

$0 software; you run it

Included with Claude Pro ($20/month, or $17/month billed annually), Max (from $100/month), Team and Enterprise; not on the free plan source ↗

Edit code across a repo from the terminal with an AI agent

Partly

Yes

Run commands and tests

Partly

Yes

Use the agent inside VS Code or JetBrains

Partly

Yes

Connect tools and data through MCP

Partly

Yes

Write commits and pull requests

Partly

Yes

Run the agent headless in scripts or CI (GitHub Actions)

Partly

Yes

Jobs covered

6 of 6 jobs

3 of 6 jobs

6 of 6 jobs

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

70,739

92,013Top

91,499

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

209

453Top

345

—

Latest release

desktop-v0.0.48 · 2026-10-17

v1.25.2 · 2026-10-21

v1.30.0 · 2026-10-22Top

—

Commits / 12 wk

840

1,417

740

—

People committing / 12 mo

Unknown

312+

54+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

271 / 148

413 / 484

464 / 367

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Yes, in your editor, terminal or desktop app; optional Cloud Agents run in Cline's hosted sandbox

Yes, a desktop editor installed on your computer

Yes; Agent Canvas and the agent server run on your machine by default, or on your own Docker host, VM or Kubernetes cluster

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

Apache-2.0 for the repo; the JetBrains plugin is not open source

GPL-3.0-or-later for most code, with some Apache-2.0 components (LICENSE-GPL and LICENSE-APACHE)

MIT

—

Model weights licence

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

Allowed under Apache-2.0

Allowed; GPL-3.0 is copyleft, so changes you distribute must stay GPL

Yes, MIT allows commercial use

—

Paid services needed?Differs

Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio) or your own keys; Cline Provider, ClinePass and Cloud Agents are optional

Editor is free; AI works with your own API keys or local models (Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp); Zed Pro is optional for hosted models and Zed edit prediction

Not required with local models (LM Studio, Ollama, vLLM, SGLang); cloud model APIs and OpenHands Cloud are optional

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

No requirements documented for Cline itself (checked 2026-10-21); local models need much more

64-bit OS; Windows needs a DirectX 11 GPU, Linux a Vulkan 1.3 driver, Macs from about 2015 on; local models need more

No requirements given for Agent Canvas itself; the recommended local model needs a 24GB GPU or an Apple Silicon Mac with 64GB memory

—

Operating systemsDiffers

Desktop app for macOS and Windows (Windows in beta); the extension runs in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and JetBrains IDEs, and the CLI needs Node.js 20+; Linux is not named in the install docs

macOS (10.15+, Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows 10 1903+ and 11, Linux x86_64 and Arm64; no web version

macOS, Linux and Windows (PowerShell or WSL2); the CLI and per-conversation Docker sandboxes need WSL on Windows

—

Setup effortDiffers

Easy; install from the VS Code or JetBrains marketplace, or npm install -g cline, then add a provider key or local model

Easy; download installer, Homebrew, winget or a one-line Linux script, then add an API key or local model

Medium; install Node.js 24 and uv then the npm package, or run the Docker image, then add a model

—

Stars over time

Switch to Growth % to compare projects of different sizes fairly.

The chart appears after a few nightly checks.

Notes for a video or post

A plain summary with today's date and a link to the sources. Check each project page before you publish.

Cline vs Zed vs OpenHands (as alternatives to Claude Code)
Figures from RepoQuarry, 22 Oct 2026. Sources: https://repoquarry.dev/compare?ids=cline,zed,openhands&product=claude-code

Claude Code: Included with Claude Pro ($20/month, or $17/month billed annually), Max (from $100/month), Team and Enterprise; not on the free plan
Cline: free software; does 6 of 6 Claude Code jobs
Zed: free software; does 3 of 6 Claude Code jobs
OpenHands: free software; does 6 of 6 Claude Code jobs

- Cline: 70,739 GitHub stars, 840 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0 for the repo; the JetBrains plugin is not open source
- Zed: 92,013 GitHub stars, 1,417 commits in 12 weeks, licence GPL-3.0-or-later for most code, with some Apache-2.0 components (LICENSE-GPL and LICENSE-APACHE)
- OpenHands: 91,499 GitHub stars, 740 commits in 12 weeks, licence MIT

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: Cline Yes, in your editor, terminal or desktop app; optional Cloud Agents run in Cline's hosted sandbox; Zed Yes, a desktop editor installed on your computer; OpenHands Yes; Agent Canvas and the agent server run on your machine by default, or on your own Docker host, VM or Kubernetes cluster
- Code licence: Cline Apache-2.0 for the repo; the JetBrains plugin is not open source; Zed GPL-3.0-or-later for most code, with some Apache-2.0 components (LICENSE-GPL and LICENSE-APACHE); OpenHands MIT
- Commercial use: Cline Allowed under Apache-2.0; Zed Allowed; GPL-3.0 is copyleft, so changes you distribute must stay GPL; OpenHands Yes, MIT allows commercial use
- Paid services needed?: Cline Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio) or your own keys; Cline Provider, ClinePass and Cloud Agents are optional; Zed Editor is free; AI works with your own API keys or local models (Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp); Zed Pro is optional for hosted models and Zed edit prediction; OpenHands Not required with local models (LM Studio, Ollama, vLLM, SGLang); cloud model APIs and OpenHands Cloud are optional
- Hardware: Cline No requirements documented for Cline itself (checked 2026-10-21); local models need much more; Zed 64-bit OS; Windows needs a DirectX 11 GPU, Linux a Vulkan 1.3 driver, Macs from about 2015 on; local models need more; OpenHands No requirements given for Agent Canvas itself; the recommended local model needs a 24GB GPU or an Apple Silicon Mac with 64GB memory
- Operating systems: Cline Desktop app for macOS and Windows (Windows in beta); the extension runs in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and JetBrains IDEs, and the CLI needs Node.js 20+; Linux is not named in the install docs; Zed macOS (10.15+, Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows 10 1903+ and 11, Linux x86_64 and Arm64; no web version; OpenHands macOS, Linux and Windows (PowerShell or WSL2); the CLI and per-conversation Docker sandboxes need WSL on Windows
- Setup effort: Cline Easy; install from the VS Code or JetBrains marketplace, or npm install -g cline, then add a provider key or local model; Zed Easy; download installer, Homebrew, winget or a one-line Linux script, then add an API key or local model; OpenHands Medium; install Node.js 24 and uv then the npm package, or run the Docker image, then add a model

Stars show popularity, not quality. Check each project page before publishing.

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Numbers: GitHub, fetched nightly. Facts: read from each project's own documentation, with the source on its page. How we check. cline/cline ↗zed-industries/zed ↗OpenHands/OpenHands ↗

Cline vs Zed vs OpenHands

Stars over time

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