Cline is primarily a VS Code extension (3,354,473 VS Code installs, 5M across editors) with a CLI component. $32M raise (Emergence Capital). Named enterprise customers: Salesforce, Samsung, SAP. 59K stars. Supply chain incident: v2.3.0 'OpenClaw' compromise is a documented trust flag. v3.73.0 released 2026-03-16.
64/100
Trust
59K+
Stars
5
Evidence
Videos
Reviews, tutorials, and comparisons from the community.
Cline CLI 2.0: An open-source Terminal AI coding agent (Free Minimax M2.5 & Kimi K2.5 )
Introducing Cline CLI 2.0
Editorial verdict
#4 coding CLI — strongest in the IDE-embedded-agent segment with 3.35M VS Code installs, 5M total across editors, $32M funding (Emergence Capital), and named enterprise customers (Salesforce, Samsung, SAP). The supply chain incident (v2.3.0 'OpenClaw') is a documented trust flag that still applies. A credible third-party security audit would remove the primary concern. Best for developers who live in VS Code and want agentic assistance without leaving the editor.
Source
Public evidence
Cline v2.3.0 'OpenClaw' compromise is a documented supply chain incident. Until a credible third-party security audit is published, trust score is penalized relative to other tools at similar star counts.
Called Cline CLI 2.0 'the moment the coding agent stopped being an IDE feature and became a pipeline component.' Covers ACP protocol support, parallel agents, and CI integration.
Launched Feb 13, 2026 with ACP protocol support, parallel isolated agent instances, full stdin/stdout Unix pipe support, and 600-second CI timeout constraint. BYOK with free models.
Groups Cline with OpenCode and Aider as the three OSS coding agents solving vendor lock-in. Named enterprise customers (Salesforce, Samsung, SAP) cited as evidence of enterprise-grade adoption.
$32M raise from Emergence Capital. Named enterprise customers include Salesforce, Samsung, and SAP — the most independently verifiable enterprise adoption evidence in the IDE-agent segment.
How does this compare?
See side-by-side metrics against other skills in the same category.
Where it wins
3,354,473 VS Code installs (5M across editors, Jan 2026) — dominates IDE-embedded-agent segment
$32M raise from Emergence Capital — most enterprise-funded tool in the IDE agent lane
Named enterprise customers: Salesforce, Samsung, SAP — independently verified adoption
ACP protocol, parallel isolated agents, Unix pipes — pipeline-component architecture
BYOK with free models (Kimi K2.5, MiniMax M2.5 at 100 tok/s) — lowest cost barrier
Active shipping: v3.73.0 released 2026-03-16
Where to be skeptical
Supply chain incident: v2.3.0 'OpenClaw' compromise — documented trust flag, no third-party security audit published
No published SWE-bench or Terminal-Bench scores
Primarily a VS Code extension — the CLI surface is secondary to the IDE experience
Weak HN organic engagement (low HN pts) relative to VS Code install count
Ranking in categories
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Raw GitHub source
GitHub README could not be fetched right now.