Devin vs Cline
A detailed side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right AI coding agent for your needs.
Devin
Devin by Cognition Labs is the most-talked-about autonomous AI software engineer of 2024-2026 — an agent that plans, codes, tests, and ships software with minimal human oversight, designed specificall...
- Autonomous full-task software engineering
- Cloud sandboxed dev environment per task
- Plans, writes code, runs tests, debugs, opens PRs
- Devin Review (free standalone code review agent)
- DeepWiki (free codebase exploration tool)
- Most autonomous coding agent shipped to date — handles full tasks end-to-end
- Documented massive efficiency gains on real migrations (Nubank 8-12x, 20x cost savings)
- Free Devin Review + DeepWiki gate-opens the platform for evaluation
- Best results require well-scoped tasks — vague prompts lead to off-track work
- Pricing scales fast for heavy use ($200/mo Max for power users)
Cline
Cline is the leading open-source autonomous coding agent, distributed as a VS Code extension that turns your editor into a Devin-style autonomous engineer. Where Devin runs in its own cloud sandbox, C...
- Open-source VS Code extension (free forever)
- Plan & Act mode (review before execution)
- Auto-approve mode for trusted workflows
- BYO LLM (Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, local)
- MCP (Model Context Protocol) server support
- Most-starred autonomous coding agent on GitHub — strong community + frequent updates
- BYO LLM = full cost + privacy control (no Cline lock-in)
- Plan & Act mode keeps human in the loop on every action
- LLM API costs flow through user — needs token budget awareness
- OSS + BYO model means setup is more involved than Cursor's polished UX
Verdict: Devin vs Cline
Pick Devin if you need autonomous ai software engineer for large-scale migrations and refactors. Pick Cline if you need open-source autonomous coding agent — runs in vs code, byo llm.
Devin supports 3 models.
Who should buy this
Devin
- Engineering team facing large-scale migration / refactor work (codebase modernization, framework upgrades)
- VP Eng wanting to scale capacity without proportional headcount growth
- Senior engineer offloading well-scoped tasks (test coverage, dependency upgrades, format consistency)
- Solo devs preferring augmented-IDE workflows (Cursor / Copilot fit better)
- Teams without clear task scoping (Devin needs well-defined work to thrive)
Solo dev: free (Review + DeepWiki) or $20/mo Pro. Power user: $200/mo Max. Team: $80/seat/mo. Enterprise: custom contracts (typically $50-300K+/yr).
Verified 2026-05-06
Cline
- Engineer wanting Devin-style autonomy with full BYO-LLM cost + privacy control
- Open-source advocate preferring MIT-licensed tools over closed-source SaaS
- Privacy-conscious developer running local models (Ollama / LM Studio) with autonomous agent
- Team using MCP servers for custom tool integrations
- Devs preferring polished, set-and-forget SaaS (Cursor / Copilot fit better)
- Buyers needing managed enterprise contract + dedicated support (Devin / Codex Enterprise)
Extension: free. LLM API costs (BYO): typically $5-50/mo for solo developer use. Heavy users: $100-300/mo on premium models.
Verified 2026-05-06
Capabilities at a glance
| Capability | Devin | Cline |
|---|---|---|
| Autonomous full-task software engineering | — | |
| Cloud sandboxed dev env per task | — | |
| Plans + codes + tests + debugs + PRs | — | |
| Devin Review (standalone code review) | — | |
| DeepWiki (codebase exploration) | — | |
| SAML/OIDC SSO + dedicated infrastructure | Enterprise | — |
| Public API | — | |
| Open-source VS Code extension | — | |
| Plan & Act review mode | — | |
| Auto-approve trusted workflows | — | |
| BYO LLM (any provider) | — | |
| MCP server integration | — | |
| Browser Use for web tasks | — | |
| On-prem / self-hosted | — | Runs locally |
Security & compliance
| Standard / control | Devin | Cline |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 | Type II | — |
| ISO 27001 | — | |
| GDPR | ||
| Self-hosted option | — | |
| SSO / SAML | — | |
| RBAC | — | |
| Audit logs | — | |
| Trains on customer data | No | No |
What users say
Devin
Nubank, Goldman Sachs, Anthropic, Y Combinator-backed startups
Cline
Engineering teams self-hosting agents, Open-source community, Privacy-focused developers
Frequently asked questions
What AI models do Devin and Cline use?+
Devin runs on Cognition proprietary models, GPT-5 family, Claude Opus + Sonnet. Cline runs on Any LLM via OpenAI / Anthropic / Google / Ollama, MCP server integrations.
What is the main difference between Devin and Cline?+
Devin is positioned as best autonomous ai software engineer for large-scale migrations and refactors, while Cline is positioned as best open-source autonomous coding agent — runs in vs code, byo llm. Pick the one whose strength aligns with your primary use case.
Which has better integrations, Devin or Cline?+
Devin integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Linear and 3 more. Cline integrates with VS Code, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Vertex and 3 more.
What are the main weaknesses of Devin and Cline?+
Devin's main drawback: best results require well-scoped tasks — vague prompts lead to off-track work. Cline's main drawback: llm api costs flow through user — needs token budget awareness.
Are Devin and Cline worth it in 2026?+
Both remain competitive coding options in 2026. Devin stands out for most autonomous coding agent shipped to date — handles full tasks end-to-end. Cline stands out for most-starred autonomous coding agent on github — strong community + frequent updates. Choose based on which trade-offs fit your workflow and budget.