ClinevsACP Client for VS 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
6.87 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.”
ACP Client for VS Code
Jun Han · IDE extension
#41OSS
Panel
7.30 spec wins
- Reliability
- 7.0
- Usefulness
- 6.8
- Cost
- 8.2
- Longevity
- 7.0
“It supports eleven coding agents, one at a time, which is a fair summary of the last two years.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Cline | ACP Client for VS Code |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | IDE extension | IDE extension |
| Runs | local | local |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | No |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | YesThe extension runs the commands the agent requests and displays their output; the agent loop itself lives in the ACP agent. |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Git operations | Yes | No |
| 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. | No |
| 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. | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | NoEleven agents are pre-configured but only one is active at a time, with quick switching between them. |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | No |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, Cline provider, Ollama, LM Studio | GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Qwen Code, Auggie CLI, Qoder CLI, Codex CLI, OpenCode, OpenClaw, Kiro CLI, Hermes Agent |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | byok |
| 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 | 391 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Cline | ACP Client for VS Code | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.5 | 7.5 | no preference |
| El Crítico | 6.5 | 7.0 | ACP Client for VS Code — It serves the agent's file writes against your workspace and runs the commands it asks for under a configurable auto-approve policy. |
| El Profesor | 6.3 | 7.8 | ACP Client for VS Code — Every ACP JSON-RPC message can be inspected in a traffic log, which makes a disagreement about whose fault a failure is answerable rather than rhetorical. |
| La Inversora | 5.8 | 6.8 | ACP Client for VS Code — The value here is borrowed: it is worth exactly as much as the protocol is adopted, and 372 stars for a free extension is respectable and unmonetisable. |
| La Jefa | 5.8 | 7.3 | ACP Client for VS Code — One marketplace identifier in the extension allowlist we already maintain and sixty engineers have it when the editor restarts; that is a memo, not a project. |
| 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.