Zed vs Cline
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.
Also replaces Claude Code: + OpenCode+ OpenAI Codex CLI+ Gemini CLI+ OpenHands+ goose+ Aider
Cost and coverage
Price
$0 software; you run it
$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
No: No
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Run commands and tests
Partial: Partly
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Use the agent inside VS Code or JetBrains
No: No
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Connect tools and data through MCP
Partial: Partly
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Write commits and pull requests
Partial: Partly
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Run the agent headless in scripts or CI (GitHub Actions)
No: No
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Jobs covered
3 of 6 jobs
6 of 6 jobs
All 6
Popularity and activity (from GitHub)
Stars
92,013Top
70,739
—
Gain this week
Unknown
Unknown
—
Signal
Building history
Building history
—
Commits / 4 wk
453Top
209
—
Latest release
v1.25.2 · 2026-10-21Top
desktop-v0.0.48 · 2026-10-17
—
Commits / 12 wk
1,417
840
—
People committing / 12 mo
312+
Unknown
—
Issues opened / closed, 30 days
413 / 484
271 / 148
—
Facts, with sources on each project page
Runs on my machine?Differs
Confirmed: Yes, a desktop editor installed on your computer
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: GPL-3.0-or-later for most code, with some Apache-2.0 components (LICENSE-GPL and LICENSE-APACHE)
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 useDiffers
Confirmed: Allowed; GPL-3.0 is copyleft, so changes you distribute must stay GPL
Confirmed: Allowed under Apache-2.0
—
Paid services needed?Differs
Partial: 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
Partial: Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio) or your own keys; Cline Provider, ClinePass and Cloud Agents are optional
Subscription
HardwareDiffers
Confirmed: 64-bit OS; Windows needs a DirectX 11 GPU, Linux a Vulkan 1.3 driver, Macs from about 2015 on; local models need more
Unknown: No requirements documented for Cline itself (checked 2026-10-21); local models need much more
—
Operating systemsDiffers
Confirmed: macOS (10.15+, Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows 10 1903+ and 11, Linux x86_64 and Arm64; no web version
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
—
Setup effortDiffers
Confirmed: Easy; download installer, Homebrew, winget or a one-line Linux script, then add an API key or local model
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. zed-industries/zed ↗cline/cline ↗