Continue

Apache-2.0 open-source coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the CLI

What Continue does

  • Apache-2.0 open-source coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the CLI
  • Bring any model: cloud API keys or local models via Ollama
  • Custom rules, MCP tools and PR checks defined as code

Continue — straight answers

What is Continue?

Continue is listed under Code Autocomplete & Assistants, in the Code & Development category on Flocci AI Tools. Apache-2.0 open-source coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the CLI. It is free, with no paid plan attached, and it lives at continue.dev.

Is Continue free?

Continue is listed as fully free — there is no paid tier attached to it in the catalog. That makes it one of the 397 entries on Flocci AI Tools with no upgrade path built in.

Can I use Continue in a browser, or is there an app?

Continue needs to be installed or self-hosted — it doesn't run in a browser tab. It is available on inside another product, the command line and self-hosting.

What can Continue do?

Continue does 3 things the catalog singles out: Apache-2.0 open-source coding agent for vs code, jetbrains and the cli; bring any model: cloud api keys or local models via ollama; custom rules, mcp tools and pr checks defined as code.

What is the best free alternative to Continue?

Tabby is the closest free alternative: it sits in the same Code Autocomplete & Assistants sub-category and is free. Amazon Q Developer, GitHub Copilot and Tabnine also start free. The full list is on the alternatives page.

See the full list →

Continue alternatives

Compare all alternatives →

GitHub Copilot

Code Autocomplete & Assistants
freemium
  • The most widely used AI pair programmer
  • Free tier: 2,000 completions & chats/month
  • Agent mode and multi-model choice
  • Works across all major IDEs

Amazon Q Developer

Code Autocomplete & Assistants
freemium
  • AWS-savvy coding assistant and agents
  • Security scanning and code transforms
  • Feature development from issues
  • Free tier available

Tabnine

Code Autocomplete & Assistants
freemium
  • Privacy-first completions (can run air-gapped)
  • Personalized to your code
  • Model choice and controls
  • Free Basic plan

Sourcegraph Cody

Code Autocomplete & Assistants
  • Deep whole-codebase context
  • Chat, autocomplete and fixes
  • Great for large/legacy repos
  • Cody is now documented as supported on Sourcegraph Enterprise only; Free and Pro plans were retired.

Tabby

Code Autocomplete & Assistants
free
  • Self-hosted AI coding assistant with completion and chat
  • Runs on your own hardware with open code models, no cloud dependency
  • IDE extensions for VS Code, JetBrains and Vim

Cursor

AI IDEs & Editors
freemium
  • AI-first VS Code fork with agent mode
  • Multi-file edits and terminal commands
  • Codebase-wide context and rules
  • Free tier with limited requests

Head-to-head comparisons