Gemini CLI vs Cline
Side by side, as alternatives to Cursor. Rows that differ are highlighted; the strongest value in a row is marked. Unknown means no source yet.
Also replaces Cursor: + OpenCode+ OpenAI Codex CLI+ Zed+ OpenHands+ goose+ Aider
Cost and coverage
Price
$0 software; you run it
$0 software; you run it
Free plan with limited AI use; Plus $8/month, Premium $30/month, Super $100/month, Ultra $200/month; third-party models billed separately by usage source ↗
Code in an AI-first editor
No: No
No: No
Confirmed: Yes
Multi-line tab completion and next-edit prediction
No: No
No: No
Confirmed: Yes
Let an agent plan and edit across many files
Partial: Partly
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Run terminal commands and tests from the agent
Partial: Partly
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Ask questions about your whole codebase
Partial: Partly
No: No
Confirmed: Yes
Connect tools and data through MCP
Partial: Partly
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Run agents in the cloud in the background
No: No
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Jobs covered
4 of 7 jobs
4 of 7 jobs
All 7
Popularity and activity (from GitHub)
Stars
107,492Top
70,739
—
Gain this week
Unknown
Unknown
—
Signal
Building history
Building history
—
Commits / 4 wk
82
209Top
—
Latest release
v0.65.0 · 2026-10-20Top
desktop-v0.0.48 · 2026-10-17
—
Commits / 12 wk
194
840
—
People committing / 12 mo
82+
Unknown
—
Issues opened / closed, 30 days
123 / 206
271 / 148
—
Facts, with sources on each project page
Runs on my machine?Differs
Confirmed: Yes, the CLI runs in your terminal; the Gemini models themselves run on Google's servers
Confirmed: Yes, in your editor, terminal or desktop app; optional Cloud Agents run in Cline's hosted sandbox
Hosted by the vendor
Code licenceDiffers
Confirmed: Apache-2.0
Confirmed: Apache-2.0 for the repo; the JetBrains plugin is not open source
—
Model weights licence
Confirmed: No separate model weights
Confirmed: No separate model weights
—
Commercial use
Confirmed: Allowed under Apache-2.0
Confirmed: Allowed under Apache-2.0
—
Paid services needed?Differs
No: A paid service is required since June 18, 2026; the free Google-account tier moved to Antigravity CLI. No local model support
Partial: Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio) or your own keys; Cline Provider, ClinePass and Cloud Agents are optional
Subscription
HardwareDiffers
Confirmed: 4GB+ RAM for short sessions, 16GB+ for large codebases; needs Node.js 20+ and an internet connection
Unknown: No requirements documented for Cline itself (checked 2026-10-21); local models need much more
—
Operating systemsDiffers
Confirmed: Windows 11 24H2+, macOS 15+ and Ubuntu 20.04+
Partial: 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
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Setup effortDiffers
Confirmed: Easy; run with npx or install with npm, Homebrew or MacPorts, then sign in or set an API key
Confirmed: Easy; install from the VS Code or JetBrains marketplace, or npm install -g cline, then add a provider key or local model
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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.
Want share images and a ready video description? Open a project's creator kit.
Numbers: GitHub, fetched nightly. Facts: read from each project's own documentation, with the source on its page. How we check. google-gemini/gemini-cli ↗cline/cline ↗