ClinevsKilo Code
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Cline
Cline Bot Inc. · IDE extension
#11OSSMCP
Panel
6.81 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.8
- Usefulness
- 7.2
- Cost
- 6.3
- Longevity
- 6.8
“Asks permission before every command, which is why your first move is finding the auto-approve list.”
Kilo Code
Kilo Code (Anaconda) · IDE extension
#26OSSMCP
Panel
6.51 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.0
- Usefulness
- 7.2
- Cost
- 7.0
- Longevity
- 5.8
“A fork of Roo Code carrying a fork of OpenCode, acquired by Anaconda, so the dependency tree finally has a parent.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Cline | Kilo Code |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | IDE extension | IDE extension |
| Runs | local | local, cloud |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows, web |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Git operations | Yes | Yes |
| Browser control | YesBrowser control lives in the IDE extension, which drives Chrome over the DevTools protocol with puppeteer-core; the CLI's ClineCore tool set only has fetch_web. | YesA Playwright-backed browser tool that navigates, clicks, fills forms, drags and screenshots after each action; it needs a high-capability agentic model to work reliably. |
| Sandboxed execution | NoThe CLI's CLINE_SANDBOX mode only redirects session, database and provider state to a separate data directory; there is no container, VM or OS-level isolation in the repository. | YesCloud Agents run in isolated Linux containers, and the local CLI has an opt-in OS-level sandbox using macOS Seatbelt via sandbox-exec or Linux bubblewrap (not available on Windows). |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | Yes`kilo run --auto` auto-approves permissions for fully non-interactive CI/CD runs. |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, Cline provider, Ollama, LM Studio | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Ollama, LM Studio |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | mixed |
| Starts at | $0/mo | $0/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 69,688 | 27,467 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Cline | Kilo Code | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.5 | 7.3 | Cline — The open editor agent to pick if you want to approve every action and choose your own model; slower than the closed tools, and yours. |
| El Crítico | 6.5 | 6.0 | Cline — Approvals slow it down by design, the bill scales with how much it reads, and there is no sandbox behind the approve button. |
| El Profesor | 6.3 | 5.5 | Cline — A human-in-the-loop design with a plan-act split, open source and inspectable; capability is asserted by docs and demonstrated by no published number. |
| La Inversora | 5.8 | 6.3 | Kilo Code — Anaconda bought Kilo in July 2026, which answers the ownership question and raises whether a Python distributor wants to run a coding-agent business. |
| La Jefa | 5.8 | 6.8 | Kilo Code — Teams at $15 a user makes sixty seats $900 a month, it covers VS Code and JetBrains, and there is a vendor to call; approved with conditions. |
| El Hacker | 9.0 | 7.3 | Cline — Apache-2.0, every prompt readable, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint including my local box, MCP from a JSON file; this is what ownership looks like. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.