How popular is Cline?

As of Aug 20, 2026, Cline routes about 208.8B tokens per day through OpenRouter — the #3 tracked AI coding tool by that measure. Its OpenRouter volume moved +18.1% over the last 7 days.

When was Cline last updated?

The most recent tracked release is desktop-v0.0.15 on Aug 21, 2026. Its full changelog history is listed above.

What are the best alternatives to Cline?

By OpenRouter usage, the closest alternatives are Claude Code, pi, and Kilo Code. Head-to-head comparisons are linked in the alternatives table.

ToolsCline Bot Inc.

Cline

formerly Claude Dev

homepage pricing changelog github npm

OpenRouter rank

of 15 tracked tools

Tokens / day

208.8B18.1%

snapshot Aug 20, 2026

Requests / day

1,948,592

OpenRouter, summed

Usage

OpenRouter token volume

latest Aug 20, 2026

source: OpenRouter app rankings · summed across the tool's apps · daily

208.8B on Aug 20, 2026

Pricing

Subscription plans

Latest captured subscription plans for Cline.
Plan	$/mo	Notes
Open Source	$0	Free for individual developers · Pay only for AI inference on a usage basis - no subscriptions, no vendor lock-in · Purchase and Model Inference at Cost or BYOK · n/a
Enterprise	—	Custom pricing, contact sales · SSO, SLA & Dedicated Support · Includes all Open Source features plus JetBrains extension, centralized billing, RBAC, team management dashboard, authentication logs

source: cline.bot/pricing

captured Jul 12, 2026

Change history

Jul 12, 2026
Cline plans changed: added Open Source; removed Free
source

Changelog

Releases

desktop-v0.0.15Desktop v0.0.15
Aug 21, 2026
- The app is now called Cline, renamed from Cline Code. Your settings, sessions, and credentials carry over untouched — only the name and icon change
- Refreshed app icons and branding
- Reskinned the first-run onboarding, with an interactive welcome graphic
v4.1.11v4.1.11
Aug 21, 2026
- Everything here lands through the SDK bundle, so it applies to windows running that bundle — except the last section, which is a legacy-bundle fix.
- ### Added
- Let models that support it generate images during a task. Generated images render inline in the conversation.
cli-v3.0.56CLI v3.0.56
Aug 21, 2026
- Models that support image generation can now produce media during a turn. The TUI saves each generated file to a temporary path and prints it so you can open it with your usual tools, HTML session exports embed images inline, and ACP clients receive generated images as image content
- Skill slash commands now load through the skills tool instead of expanding into your message. History and resume show the `/command` you typed instead of the whole skill body, and the instructions reach the model once instead of twice. Workflows still expand, as does zen mode, whose preset has no skills tool
- Image, voice, and other non-chat models are no longer offered in the onboarding and model pickers or ACP model listings, and are rejected for `--model`
sdk/sdk/v0.0.77SDK v0.0.77
Aug 21, 2026
- The `tasks` tool (durable todos and one-time or recurring agent schedules) is now scoped to the clients that can service it. Hosts declare their client type and the core tool catalog resolves availability centrally, so CLI and VS Code sessions no longer register a tool they cannot act on; hub sessions resolve the same way from the requesting client's metadata
- **Full Changelog**: https://github.com/cline/cline/compare/sdk/sdk/v0.0.76...sdk/sdk/v0.0.77
sdk/sdk/v0.0.76SDK v0.0.76
Aug 21, 2026
- Added model-driven image generation. Models that support it can generate images during a turn, and generated images are persisted in session history and exports
- Agents can now create and manage scheduled tasks and a durable todo agenda. Schedules are scoped to the workspace that registered them
- Skill slash commands now load through the skills tool instead of being pasted into the user message. The persisted transcript records what you typed (`/my-skill ...`) rather than the whole SKILL.md body, and skill instructions arrive once instead of twice. Workflows keep textual expansion
desktop-v0.0.15-beta.1Desktop v0.0.15-beta.1
Aug 20, 2026
- Beta: hand off a local session to Cline Cloud with `/handoff` — the conversation, attached images, and an optional follow-up command move to a cloud workspace that keeps working after you close the app. A preflight confirms the repository, branch, and commit are pushed; the composer shows handoff progress and finishes with a receipt linking to the cloud session.
- Beta: Cloud now lives in the existing Local / Remote environment menu. It is selectable when the Cloud sessions feature flag is on and shows as "Coming soon" otherwise. The separate Local / Cloud toggle is gone; repository and branch controls are unchanged.
- If a handoff is interrupted — the app restarts, the network drops, or the branch moves mid-transfer — reopening the session recovers or cleanly retries it, and your typed draft and attachments are restored.
desktop-v0.0.14Desktop v0.0.14
Aug 19, 2026
- The app now posts native macOS notifications when a task finishes or needs your input, so you can leave Cline working in the background. Configure them under Settings → Notifications.
- Voice input: dictate into the composer with the microphone button and your speech is transcribed as you talk, using the provider and model you have configured.
- Commands stream their output into the transcript as they run instead of appearing all at once when the command exits. Output keeps its terminal colors, is scrollable without being yanked back to the bottom, and a long-running command can be sent to the background with "Proceed while running" so the agent moves on while it finishes.
desktop-betaCline Code desktop beta (auto-update feed)
Aug 18, 2026
- Rolling release backing the beta desktop app auto-updater. The latest.json asset points at the newest desktop-vX.Y.Z-beta.N release. Only beta installs poll this feed; stable installs use desktop-latest. Do not delete.
desktop-v0.0.14-beta.1Desktop v0.0.14-beta.1
Aug 18, 2026
- First beta release. Cline Code Beta installs side by side with the stable app so you can compare the two, and updates automatically from its own beta channel — stable installs are unaffected.
- Cloud sessions (preview): run sessions in Cline's cloud straight from the desktop app. Connect GitHub during onboarding, pick a repository and branch, and hand sessions off between devices — transcripts, approvals, and queued prompts stay in sync, and you can rename cloud sessions and switch models mid-session. Turn it on with the Cloud sessions toggle in Settings.
- Avatar overlay (preview): a floating desktop companion that reacts to what your sessions are doing.
desktop-v0.0.13Desktop v0.0.13
Aug 14, 2026
- Added an app font size setting. A slider in Settings scales the interface, and your size is applied before the window paints, so launching no longer flashes at the old size first.
- Models that support it can now search the web during a task. Turn it on with the Web Search toggle in Settings; the searches and their results appear in the transcript and are still there when you reopen the session.
- Extended thinking budgets reach the provider again on Cline Pass — they had silently stopped applying when the gateway moved off the generic OpenAI-compatible path.

source: github.com/cline/cline/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md

latest Aug 21, 2026

Adoption

GitHub & package growth

GitHub stars

source: github.com/cline/cline

66,569 stars · Aug 21, 2026

Package downloads/day

source: registry stats · cline · 26 zero-day gaps hidden

9,612/day · Aug 16, 2026

Community

Reddit pulse

30-day · to Aug 21, 2026

Mentions/day

Sentiment split

how many 5h-sessions you can max out in a month with cliner/CLine · 4 pts
Losing Settings after 1st installr/CLine · 2 pts
Are the Claude dev and architect certifications worth it if ...r/ · — pts

source: Reddit mentions across coding subreddits · sentiment auto-classified

latest Aug 21, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark results

Benchmark scores for Cline.
Benchmark	Configuration	Score	Date	Source
no benchmark results attributed to Cline yet

scores as published by each benchmark; configurations differ — compare within a row's benchmark only

Alternatives

Similar tools

Alternatives to Cline by OpenRouter usage-rank proximity.
#	Tool	Tokens/day	7d Δ	Head-to-head
4	Claude CodeAnthropic	289B	5.8%	vs Cline
6	piEarendil Works (Mario Zechner)	183.9B	32.6%	vs Cline
3	Kilo CodeKilo Code	325B	22.1%	vs Cline
9	CodexOpenAI	78.4B	193.4%	vs Cline

ranked by OpenRouter usage-rank proximity

snapshot Aug 20, 2026

FAQ

Cline FAQ

How popular is Cline?: As of Aug 20, 2026, Cline routes about 208.8B tokens per day through OpenRouter — the #3 tracked AI coding tool by that measure. Its OpenRouter volume moved +18.1% over the last 7 days.
When was Cline last updated?: The most recent tracked release is desktop-v0.0.15 on Aug 21, 2026. Its full changelog history is listed above.
What are the best alternatives to Cline?: By OpenRouter usage, the closest alternatives are Claude Code, pi, and Kilo Code. Head-to-head comparisons are linked in the alternatives table.

Alerts

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