{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "cline", "name": "Cline", "vendor": "Cline Bot Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://cline.bot", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "Open-source coding agent that runs as a VS Code extension, a JetBrains plugin, a CLI and a desktop app, all on one TypeScript SDK since extension 4.0.0 (26 June 2026).", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cline", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cline.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cline.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cline.json", "repo": "https://github.com/cline/cline", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "cline" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Your own provider keys (kept in ~/.cline/data/settings/providers.json for the CLI), a local model, or a Cline account (Google, GitHub or email sign-in) for the Cline provider and ClinePass. The CLI's default provider is Cline's own, so it needs `-P` and a key, or `cline auth`, to use anything else.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "The extension, CLI and SDK are free and Apache-2.0. You pay your model provider, or buy Cline credits for pay-as-you-go access to 100+ models through the Cline provider, or ClinePass at $9.99 a month for higher limits on selected open models. Free models rotate for signed-in users. Enterprise (SSO, role-based access, audit logs, SLA) is priced by sales. We found no public per-token price list for Cline credits.", "priceSummary": "$9.99 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the pricing page or the source (checked 2026-10-01).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 67600, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-01" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.cline.bot", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.cline.bot/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "freemium", "typescript", "llms-txt", "telemetry-default-on", "enterprise", "no-card" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 60.4, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 353, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 629, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 50, "reliability": 80, "schema": 77, "security": 57, "transparency": 61 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -8, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-02-17. GHSA-9ppg-jx86-fqw7. An attacker used a compromised npm publish token to release cline@2.3.0 with a postinstall script that ran `npm install -g openclaw@latest`. It was live for about eight hours before 2.4.0 and a deprecation, the token was revoked and publishing moved to OIDC. A supply-chain incident that reached users, fixed and documented and seven months old, -4. https://github.com/cline/cline/security/advisories/GHSA-9ppg-jx86-fqw7", "2026-05-08. GHSA-5c57-rqjx-35g2 (CVE-2026-44211, 9.6). The kanban server the CLI uses accepted WebSocket connections on 127.0.0.1:3484 without checking Origin, so any website could read workspace data and inject commands. Affects kanban before 2.13.0. Inside six months, -2. https://github.com/cline/cline/security/advisories/GHSA-5c57-rqjx-35g2", "2026-06-23. GHSA-3cj3-hqcr-g934 (CVE-2026-59723, 8.8). The Cline Hub dashboard's `/browser` WebSocket accepted cross-origin connections when ROOM_SECRET was unset, the local default, letting a website add MCP servers to the settings file and run commands. NVD lists versions before 3.0.30 as affected. Inside six months, -2. https://github.com/cline/cline/security/advisories/GHSA-3cj3-hqcr-g934" ], "verdict": "Approval before edits and commands in the IDE, with command auto-approval off by default since 4.0.0. The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider.", "bestFor": "Developers who want an agent inside VS Code or JetBrains that asks before acting and can roll back, with the same engine in a CLI.", "strengths": [ "Approval before edits and commands in the IDE, with command auto-approval off by default since 4.0.0", "Checkpoints that restore files and task state, and sessions that resume by ID", "`CLINE_COMMAND_PERMISSIONS` allow and deny globs for shell commands, with deny taking precedence and redirects blocked", "Your own key for about 200 providers, or a local model, with no Cline account", "29 extension and 34 CLI releases since 3 July 2026, with tests passing on main" ], "weaknesses": [ "The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider", "Extension telemetry on by default, and the CLI's telemetry undocumented", "A compromised npm token shipped cline@2.3.0 with an unwanted global install in February 2026", "Two cross-origin WebSocket flaws in its local servers in May and June 2026", "About 700 open issues and 525 open pull requests" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `CLINE_COMMAND_PERMISSIONS` with allow and deny globs before a headless run. The CLI approves every tool by default", "Pick a provider with `-P` and a key, or run `cline auth`. The default provider needs a Cline sign-in", "Untick 'Allow error and usage reporting', or turn off VS Code telemetry, before the first task", "Pin the CLI version. 2.3.0 was a malicious publish", "Keep the hub on 127.0.0.1 or set ROOM_SECRET, and run 3.0.30 or later" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 60.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 50, "reliability": 80, "schema": 77, "security": 57, "transparency": 60 }, "provenanceScore": 61 }, "connect": { "install": "npm i -g cline # Node 22+; or the VS Code extension saoudrizwan.claude-dev", "headless": { "command": "cline --json -P anthropic -k \"$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY\" \"$TASK\"", "env": { "CLINE_COMMAND_PERMISSIONS": "{\"allow\": [\"npm test\", \"git diff *\"], \"deny\": [\"rm *\", \"sudo *\"]}" } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/cline" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "ClinePass", "unit": "month", "usd": 9.99, "note": "higher limits on selected open coding models" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Cline Bot Inc.", "domain": "cline.bot", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://cline.bot/tos", "privacy": "https://cline.bot/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/cline/cline/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "The pricing page and the CLI's package.json name Cline Bot Inc.", "cline.bot/.well-known/security.txt lists security@cline.bot and the Bugcrowd programme, and expires on 2027-12-31.", "The privacy and terms pages render only with JavaScript, so we couldn't read them." ], "score": 61 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cline.json", "live": { "slug": "cline", "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "cline/cline", "version": "desktop-v0.0.45", "released": "2026-10-08", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:05:43.225899402Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "cline", "version": "3.0.70", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:05:40.021205578Z" } ], "githubStars": 70026, "npmWeekly": 95033, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://cline.bot/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2027-12-31T23:59:00z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:39:00.499934829Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.cline.bot/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T14:00:11.542837422Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "cline.bot", "registered": "2024-09-30", "source": "https://rdap.nominet.uk/bot/domain/cline.bot", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:10:22.024872209Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cline/cline/main/CHANGELOG.md", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:24:03.804390431Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:09:02.66614484Z", "fingerprint": "afe1a35c4bbd" }, { "url": "https://cline.bot/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:16:11.11005196Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:16:11.11005196Z", "fingerprint": "7c5e50c585e0" }, { "url": "https://cline.bot/tos", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:16:13.372700135Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:16:13.372700135Z", "fingerprint": "9f6fe5247cb8" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T18:24:03.804390431Z" } }, "answer": "Cline and Kiro CLI score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.4 (C) and 59.9 (C). Kiro CLI leads on security \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust.", "b": { "slug": "kiro-cli", "name": "Kiro CLI", "vendor": "Amazon Web Services", "vendorUrl": "https://kiro.dev/cli/", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "AWS's coding agent for the terminal and the successor to the Amazon Q Developer CLI. It runs interactive chat, non-interactive runs for pipelines with an API key, MCP servers and an Agent Client Protocol server for editors.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json", "repo": "https://github.com/kirodotdev/Kiro", "license": "Proprietary. Licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence (https://kiro.dev/license/). The GitHub repository is the public issue tracker and doesn't hold the source", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "`kiro-cli login` with GitHub, Google, AWS Builder ID, AWS IAM Identity Centre or an external identity provider, in a browser or by device flow on a remote machine. Pipelines use an API key in `KIRO_API_KEY`, created at app.kiro.dev by Pro, Pro+, Pro Max and Power subscribers. Keys are long-lived, named and revocable, with no scopes, and API key generation is off by default for subscriptions an administrator manages. An active browser session takes precedence over the key.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Kiro Free is $0 with 50 credits a month and a reduced model list. Pro is $20 a user a month with 1,000 credits, Pro+ $40 with 2,000, Pro Max $100 with 5,000 and Power $200 with 10,000, and extra credits cost $0.04 each. Models use credits at different rates (Auto is the 1.0x baseline). API keys for headless runs need a paid plan, and a paid plan needs a card. GovCloud prices are about 20 per cent higher with no free tier (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$20 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the pricing page or the CLI changelog (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 4356, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://kiro.dev/docs/cli/", "llmsTxt": "https://kiro.dev/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "official", "harness", "coding-agent", "cli", "closed-source", "mcp", "acp", "llms-txt", "free-tier", "no-card", "telemetry-default-on" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-05", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 59.9, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 370, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 629, "categoryRank": 11, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 73, "payments": 40, "reliability": 57, "schema": 79, "security": 66, "transparency": 67 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": -4, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-08-04. CVE-2026-18656 and CVE-2026-18657 (bulletin 2026-074-AWS), an uncontrolled search path on Windows let a planted executable in a crafted project directory run when a user opened it. Kiro CLI for Windows before 2.10.0 and Kiro IDE 1.0.0 to 1.0.212. Fixed and published with credit to the reporters, inside six months (https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/2026-074-aws/). -2", "2026-05-22. CVE-2026-9255 (bulletin 2026-035-AWS), content piped to kiro-cli on stdin could answer the tool approval prompt, so a local actor could run tools and shell commands without the user's approval. kiro-cli before 1.28.0. Fixed and published, inside six months (https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/2026-035-aws/). -2" ], "verdict": "Permission rules follow deny over ask over allow, cloned repositories can't add rules, and a headless session treats every ask as a deny. Content from Free and individual paid accounts is used for service improvement, including model training, unless the user opts out, and API keys for pipelines need a paid plan.", "bestFor": "Teams on AWS that want one agent configuration across terminal, IDE and web, with central permission policy, prompt logging to their own S3 bucket and IAM Identity Centre sign-in.", "strengths": [ "Capability permissions with deny over ask over allow, stored outside the repository so a clone can't add rules", "An untrusted workspace doesn't load its own agents, steering files, MCP configuration or skills, and asks before every shell command", "Headless runs with `--no-interactive`, JSON Lines output, and exit codes 3 and 4 for MCP startup and missing-agent failures", "Eleven minor releases between 26 August and 5 October 2026 in a dated changelog", "Plan prices, the $0.04 credit price and per-model credit multipliers are public, with a free tier of 50 credits a month" ], "weaknesses": [ "Free and individual paid accounts have content used for service improvement, including model training, unless they opt out", "Closed source since it replaced the Apache 2.0 Amazon Q Developer CLI, with no public CI or test suite", "API keys for headless runs need a paid plan, are long-lived and carry no scopes", "No local sandbox in the CLI, and AWS says its managed permission policies are client-enforced and can be circumvented", "Two CVEs in 2026 (CVE-2026-9255 in May, CVE-2026-18656 and CVE-2026-18657 in August), both fixed" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `KIRO_API_KEY` and pass `--no-interactive` with `--trust-tools=\u003clist\u003e` in pipelines. Keep `--trust-all-tools` for disposable environments", "Pass `--require-mcp-startup` when a run depends on MCP tools. Without it a failed server is logged and the run continues", "Pass `--no-interactive` whenever input is piped from a source you don't control, and run 2.10.0 or later on Windows", "Run `kiro-cli settings telemetry.enabled false` and turn off content collection on Free and individual plans. Both are on by default", "Export variables in the shell before starting. Since 2.24.0 a project `.env` file is no longer loaded into sessions, MCP servers or tools" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 59.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 73, "payments": 40, "reliability": 57, "schema": 79, "security": 66, "transparency": 62 }, "provenanceScore": 72 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://cli.kiro.dev/install | bash", "headless": { "run": "KIRO_API_KEY=ksk_... kiro-cli chat --no-interactive --trust-tools=read,grep \"Find all TODO comments in src/\"" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/kiro-cli" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Kiro Pro", "unit": "month", "usd": 20, "note": "per user, with 1,000 credits" }, { "item": "Add-on credit", "unit": "credit", "usd": 0.04, "note": "paid plans, beyond the plan's credits" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Amazon Web Services, Inc.", "domain": "kiro.dev", "domainRegistered": "2019-03-01", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://aws.amazon.com/agreement/", "privacy": "https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://kiro.dev/changelog/cli/", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "Kiro's licence page says the Kiro IDE and CLI are licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence. Section 50.14 of the AWS Service Terms names Amazon Web Services, Inc. as the contracting party for subscriptions bought through the Stripe portal.", "The AWS Customer Agreement (last updated 14 August 2026) governs use, with the AWS Service Terms sections 50.3 and 50.14 for Kiro. The AWS Privacy Notice (last updated 18 May 2026) is the privacy link in Kiro's footer.", "kiro.dev/.well-known/security.txt answers 404. aws.amazon.com publishes a security.txt whose Expires line reads 24 September 2026, which had passed when we read it.", "No status page for Kiro was found on kiro.dev or in its docs.", "RDAP (Google Registry) gives kiro.dev a registration date of 1 March 2019, before the product." ], "score": 72 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.json", "live": { "slug": "kiro-cli", "pages": [ { "url": "https://kiro.dev/changelog/cli/", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:21:05.911888808Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "f2b1951f0330" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T18:21:05.911888808Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Cline Bot Inc.", "b": "Amazon Web Services", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Apache-2.0", "b": "Proprietary. Licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence (https://kiro.dev/license/). The GitHub repository is the public issue tracker and doesn't hold the source", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "2026-10-05", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2025-09-25", "b": "2026-08-14", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2025-09-24", "b": "2026-05-18", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "68k stars", "b": "4.4k stars", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "2/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Cline and Kiro CLI score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.4 (C) and 59.9 (C). Kiro CLI leads on security \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Cline or Kiro CLI?" }, { "answer": "Cline is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Kiro CLI.", "question": "Are Cline and Kiro CLI open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 80 against 57", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 50 against 40", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 85 against 73" ], "also": [ "Open source" ], "goodFor": "Developers who want an agent inside VS Code or JetBrains that asks before acting and can roll back, with the same engine in a CLI.", "slug": "cline", "watchFor": "The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Security \u0026 auth, 66 against 57", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 67 against 61" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Teams on AWS that want one agent configuration across terminal, IDE and web, with central permission policy, prompt logging to their own S3 bucket and IAM Identity Centre sign-in.", "slug": "kiro-cli", "watchFor": "Free and individual paid accounts have content used for service improvement, including model training, unless they opt out" } ], "job": { "capability": "agent.harness", "name": "Agent harness" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-cline.json", "title": "Aider vs Cline", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-cline" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Aider vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-cline.json", "title": "Amp vs Cline", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-cline" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Amp vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-cline.json", "title": "Claude Code vs Cline", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-cline" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Claude Code vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-cursor-cli.json", "title": "Cline vs Cursor CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-cursor-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-devin.json", "title": "Cline vs Devin", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-devin" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-earendil-pi.json", "title": "Cline vs Pi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-earendil-pi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-gemini-cli.json", "title": "Cline vs Gemini CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-gemini-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Cline vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-goose.json", "title": "Cline vs goose", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-goose" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openai-codex.json", "title": "Cline vs OpenAI Codex", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openai-codex" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-opencode.json", "title": "Cline vs OpenCode", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-opencode" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openhands.json", "title": "Cline vs OpenHands", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openhands" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Cline vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-qwen-code.json", "title": "Cline vs Qwen Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-qwen-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Cursor CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Devin vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Pi vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "goose vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openai-codex.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs OpenAI Codex", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openai-codex" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-opencode.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs OpenCode", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-opencode" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs OpenHands", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qwen-code.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Qwen Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qwen-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-paperclip.json", "title": "Cline vs Paperclip", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-paperclip" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-paperclip.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Paperclip", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-paperclip" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 23, "cline": 80, "edge": "cline", "key": "reliability", "kiro-cli": 57, "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 2, "cline": 77, "edge": "kiro-cli", "key": "schema", "kiro-cli": 79, "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 0, "cline": 67, "edge": "", "key": "ergonomics", "kiro-cli": 67, "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 9, "cline": 57, "edge": "kiro-cli", "key": "security", "kiro-cli": 66, "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 10, "cline": 50, "edge": "cline", "key": "payments", "kiro-cli": 40, "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 12, "cline": 85, "edge": "cline", "key": "maintenance", "kiro-cli": 73, "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 6, "cline": 61, "edge": "kiro-cli", "key": "transparency", "kiro-cli": 67, "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Cline and Kiro CLI score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.4 (C) and 59.9 (C). Kiro CLI leads on security \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do agent harness.", "verdicts": { "cline": "Approval before edits and commands in the IDE, with command auto-approval off by default since 4.0.0. The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider.", "kiro-cli": "Permission rules follow deny over ask over allow, cloned repositories can't add rules, and a headless session treats every ask as a deny. Content from Free and individual paid accounts is used for service improvement, including model training, unless the user opts out, and API keys for pipelines need a paid plan." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli.min.md" }, "markdown": "Cline and Kiro CLI score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.4 (C) and 59.9 (C). Kiro CLI leads on security \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do agent harness.\n\n- Cline: grade C, 60.4/100, rank #353 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cline.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cline.json\n- Kiro CLI: grade C, 59.9/100, rank #370 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Cline (C)\n\nGood for: Developers who want an agent inside VS Code or JetBrains that asks before acting and can roll back, with the same engine in a CLI.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 80 against 57\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 50 against 40\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 85 against 73\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider\n\n### Kiro CLI (C)\n\nGood for: Teams on AWS that want one agent configuration across terminal, IDE and web, with central permission policy, prompt logging to their own S3 bucket and IAM Identity Centre sign-in.\n\nAhead on:\n- Security \u0026 auth, 66 against 57\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 67 against 61\n\nWatch for: Free and individual paid accounts have content used for service improvement, including model training, unless they opt out\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Cline | Kiro CLI | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 57 | Cline +23 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 79 | Kiro CLI +2 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 67 | even |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 66 | Kiro CLI +9 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 40 | Cline +10 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 73 | Cline +12 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 67 | Kiro CLI +6 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | -4 | |\n| **Total** | | **60.4 · C** | **59.9 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Cline | Kiro CLI |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Cline Bot Inc. | Amazon Web Services |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary. Licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence (https://kiro.dev/license/). The GitHub repository is the public issue tracker and doesn't hold the source |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-05 |\n| Terms last updated | 2025-09-25 | 2026-08-14 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-09-24 | 2026-05-18 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |\n| Popularity | 68k stars | 4.4k stars |\n| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Cline.** Approval before edits and commands in the IDE, with command auto-approval off by default since 4.0.0. The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider.\n\n**Kiro CLI.** Permission rules follow deny over ask over allow, cloned repositories can't add rules, and a headless session treats every ask as a deny. Content from Free and individual paid accounts is used for service improvement, including model training, unless the user opts out, and API keys for pipelines need a paid plan.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Cline\n\n1. Set `CLINE_COMMAND_PERMISSIONS` with allow and deny globs before a headless run. The CLI approves every tool by default\n2. Pick a provider with `-P` and a key, or run `cline auth`. The default provider needs a Cline sign-in\n3. Untick 'Allow error and usage reporting', or turn off VS Code telemetry, before the first task\n4. Pin the CLI version. 2.3.0 was a malicious publish\n5. Keep the hub on 127.0.0.1 or set ROOM_SECRET, and run 3.0.30 or later\n\n### Kiro CLI\n\n1. Set `KIRO_API_KEY` and pass `--no-interactive` with `--trust-tools=\u003clist\u003e` in pipelines. Keep `--trust-all-tools` for disposable environments\n2. Pass `--require-mcp-startup` when a run depends on MCP tools. Without it a failed server is logged and the run continues\n3. Pass `--no-interactive` whenever input is piped from a source you don't control, and run 2.10.0 or later on Windows\n4. Run `kiro-cli settings telemetry.enabled false` and turn off content collection on Free and individual plans. Both are on by default\n5. Export variables in the shell before starting. Since 2.24.0 a project `.env` file is no longer loaded into sessions, MCP servers or tools\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Cline or Kiro CLI?\n\nCline and Kiro CLI score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.4 (C) and 59.9 (C). Kiro CLI leads on security \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust.\n\n### Are Cline and Kiro CLI open source?\n\nCline is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Kiro CLI.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"cline\", \"b\": \"kiro-cli\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cline kiro-cli`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cline.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Cline or Kiro CLI\n\n- [Aider vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-cline.md)\n- [Aider vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Amp vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-cline.md)\n- [Amp vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Claude Code vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-cline.md)\n- [Claude Code vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-cursor-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs Devin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-devin.md)\n- [Cline vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-earendil-pi.md)\n- [Cline vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-goose.md)\n- [Cline vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openai-codex.md)\n- [Cline vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-opencode.md)\n- [Cline vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openhands.md)\n- [Cline vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Cline vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-qwen-code.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Devin vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Pi vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [goose vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openai-codex.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-opencode.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-openhands.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)\n- [Cline vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-paperclip.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-paperclip.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Cline vs Kiro CLI", "url": "" } ], "description": "Cline and Kiro CLI score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 60.4 (C) and 59.9 (C). Kiro CLI leads on security \u0026 auth and transparency \u0026 trust. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Cline C 60.4", "Kiro CLI C 59.9", "scores" ], "h1": "Cline vs Kiro CLI", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-cline-vs-kiro-cli.png", "path": "/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Cline vs Kiro CLI for AI agents, C 60.4 vs C 59.9 | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-kiro-cli" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2350, "slim": 630 }, "version": 1 }