Cline vs OpenHands
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Cline has the lower starting price: about $10 a month, against $500 for OpenHands.
At a glance
Best for
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Plan and Act modes
- Bring your own key
- MCP support
- Cline CLI
- Per-task cost display
- Sandboxed agent runtime
- Web GUI and CLI
- Agent SDK
- Slack and Jira triggers
- Self-hosting
| Feature | Cline | OpenHands |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Open-source coding agent for VS Code and the terminal | Open platform for running AI coding agents locally or in the cloud |
| Category | Coding | Coding |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $9.99/mo | $500/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | Cline Bot Inc. | All Hands AI |
| Based in | United States | United States |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
|
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Pricing compared
Cline has the lower starting price: about $10 a month, against $500 for OpenHands.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
2 plans
Open Source
Free
- Free VS Code extension and CLI
- Bring your own model API keys
Enterprise
Contact sales
- JetBrains extension
- SSO and SLA
- Dedicated support
- Centralized billing
3 plans
Agent Canvas
Free
- Open source, runs locally
- Bring your own LLM
- Community support
Teams
$500/mo
- Up to 10 users (+$50/seat)
- Self-hosted with RBAC
- 5,000 sessions/month
- 30-day trial
Enterprise
Custom
- Unlimited organizations
- SLA-based support
- Customer success manager
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Cline
- Free and open source
- Transparent token costs
- Works with local models
- API bills can grow quickly
- Approving each step slows long tasks
OpenHands
- MIT-licensed core
- Runs fully local if needed
- Models at cost with no markup
- Setup takes more effort than SaaS agents
- Daily cap on the free cloud plan
Which one should you choose?
Choose Cline if you want:
- Free and open source
- Transparent token costs
- Works with local models
Watch out: api bills can grow quickly.
Choose OpenHands if you want:
- MIT-licensed core
- Runs fully local if needed
- Models at cost with no markup
Watch out: setup takes more effort than saas agents.
Cline vs OpenHands FAQ
What is the difference between Cline and OpenHands?
Cline: Open-source coding agent for VS Code and the terminal. OpenHands: Open platform for running AI coding agents locally or in the cloud. Both are coding tools.
Is Cline or OpenHands cheaper?
Cline has the lower starting price: about $10 a month, against $500 for OpenHands.
Do Cline and OpenHands have free plans?
Cline: Yes. OpenHands: Yes.
Who makes Cline?
Cline is made by Cline Bot Inc., based in United States.
Who makes OpenHands?
OpenHands is made by All Hands AI, based in United States.
Which should I choose, Cline or OpenHands?
Choose Cline if you value free and open source and transparent token costs. Choose OpenHands if you value mit-licensed core and runs fully local if needed.