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Cline vs Factory

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

Factory logo

Factory

Agent-native software development platform where Droids handle full engineering tasks end to end

Paid
Visit websiteView details

Verdict

Cline and Factory are both Coding AI tools. Only Cline has a free plan or trial. Only Cline is available on VS Code Extension and JetBrains Plugin. Only Factory is available on Web.

Best overall

Cline

  • Software Engineers
  • Full-Stack Developers
  • Engineering Teams
  • Enterprise Development Organizations

Choose Cline if

  • You want a tool built for developers who want an open-source agent with a choice of model providers, human approval at each step, and extensibility through MCP servers.
  • Open source under Apache 2.0, with a large public community of 250+ contributors.
  • No subscription needed: pay only for inference, or bring your own API key.

Choose Factory if

  • You want a tool built for delegating backlog tickets, automated pull request review, test generation, incident investigation and long-running refactors or migrations.
  • Covers the full delivery loop: implementation, review, testing, incident response and documentation.
  • Model independence, with a router and bring-your-own-key support for custom models.
Best value
Cline
Best for beginners
Cline
Best for business
Cline

Features

18 features compared.

  • Plan and Act Modes
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • Multi-File Editing with Checkpoints
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • Terminal and Browser Use
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • Bring Your Own Model
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • MCP Servers and Marketplace
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • Rules Files
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • Multi-Agent Teams and Scheduling
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • Headless and Chat Access
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • SDK
    Cline
    Available
    Factory
    Not available
  • Droids
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available
  • Droid CLI
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available
  • Missions
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available
  • Automations
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available
  • Droid Computers
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available
  • Model Independence
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available
  • Human Approval Checkpoints
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available
  • Analytics
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available
  • Public API
    Cline
    Not available
    Factory
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    Cline
    Freemium
    Factory
    Paid
  • Free plan
    Cline
    Yes
    Factory
    No
  • Starting price
    Cline
    $0
    Factory
    $20
  • Plans
    Cline
    3 plans
    Factory
    6 plans

Cline plans

  • Open Source

    Most popular

    $0

    Free for individual developers; pay only for model inference

    • VS Code extension
    • CLI
    • MCP Marketplace
    • multi-root workspaces
    • bring your own key
    • community support

  • ClinePass

    $9.99/month

    Optional flat subscription for open coding models via the Cline provider

    • Curated open coding models
    • 2-5x usage versus standard API rates
    • 5-hour
    • weekly and monthly limits

  • Enterprise

    Custom/custom

    Organizations needing security and administration controls

    • JetBrains extension
    • SSO
    • SLA
    • dedicated support
    • centralized billing
    • role-based access control
    • authentication logs

Factory plans

  • Pro

    $20/month

    Individual developers

    • Desktop
    • CLI and SDK access
    • cloud and local background agents
    • billing and usage stats
    • agent-readiness dashboard

  • Plus

    $100/month

    Heavier individual usage

    • Everything in Pro
    • rolling rate limits about 5x Pro
    • Droid Computers

  • Max

    $200/month

    Highest individual usage

    • Everything in Plus
    • rolling rate limits about 10x Pro
    • early access to new features

  • Teams

    $40/user/mo

    Small teams of up to 10 seats

    • Everything in Pro for the whole team
    • centralized billing
    • plus a $60/month base fee per team

  • Business

    Custom/contact sales

    Organizations needing security and admin controls

    • SSO
    • SAML/SCIM provisioning
    • zero data retention
    • audit logging
    • model access controls
    • org-level deny lists
    • network policy

  • Enterprise

    Custom/contact sales

    Large enterprises

    • Everything in Business
    • unlimited team members
    • dedicated compute
    • on-premise options
    • sub-organizations
    • data residency
    • SLAs

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.

Cline
8.2overall
Factory
8.2overall

Cline leads in 1 category and Factory in 3, with 1 tied.

  • Ease of Use

    Tied
    Cline
    7.8
    Factory
    7.8

  • Feature Depth

    Factory leads by 0.2
    Cline
    8.8
    Factory
    9.0

  • Value for Money

    Cline leads by 1.1
    Cline
    8.6
    Factory
    7.5

  • Performance & Speed

    Factory leads by 0.2
    Cline
    8.0
    Factory
    8.2

  • Documentation & Support

    Factory leads by 0.3
    Cline
    8.0
    Factory
    8.3

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

Cline

Pros

  • Open source under Apache 2.0, with a large public community of 250+ contributors.
  • No subscription needed: pay only for inference, or bring your own API key.
  • Works with many model providers, including local models through Ollama and LM Studio.
  • Approval at every step, plus checkpoints and undo, keeps changes reviewable.
  • Available in VS Code, a desktop app, CLI, SDK and CI, so it fits several workflows.

Cons

  • Costs depend on token usage and are not capped on the free plan, so heavy agentic sessions can be hard to predict.
  • JetBrains support is listed as early access and as an Enterprise feature.
  • Documentation does not state specific ClinePass token or request allowances.

Factory

Pros

  • Covers the full delivery loop: implementation, review, testing, incident response and documentation.
  • Model independence, with a router and bring-your-own-key support for custom models.
  • Available in desktop, CLI, web and several IDEs, so work is not tied to one editor.
  • Enterprise controls including SSO, audit logging, zero data retention and on-premise options.
  • Public API and OpenAPI specification for building on top of the platform.

Cons

  • No free tier or trial is listed; the entry plan is $20 per month.
  • Usage limits are given only as multiples of Pro, so actual capacity is hard to estimate.
  • Business and Enterprise pricing is contact-sales only.
  • Droid Computers are limited to Plus and higher plans.

Platforms

  • Web
    Cline
    Not supported
    Factory
    Supported
  • Windows
    Cline
    Supported
    Factory
    Supported
  • macOS
    Cline
    Supported
    Factory
    Supported
  • iOS
    Cline
    Not supported
    Factory
    Not supported
  • Android
    Cline
    Not supported
    Factory
    Not supported
  • API
    Cline
    Supported
    Factory
    Supported
  • Browser Extension
    Cline
    Not supported
    Factory
    Not supported
  • Linux
    Cline
    Supported
    Factory
    Supported
  • VS Code Extension
    Cline
    Supported
    Factory
    Not supported
  • JetBrains Plugin
    Cline
    Supported
    Factory
    Not supported
  • CLI
    Cline
    Supported
    Factory
    Supported

Integrations

Cline

17 integrations
  • VS Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cursor
  • Windsurf
  • Slack
  • Discord
  • Telegram
  • Linear
  • GitHub Actions
  • GitLab
  • Ollama
  • LM Studio
  • OpenRouter
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Anthropic
  • OpenAI
  • Google Gemini

Factory

11 integrations
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Jira
  • Linear
  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • VS Code
  • Cursor
  • Windsurf
  • JetBrains IDEs
  • Zed

Company

  • Company
    Cline
    Cline Bot Inc.
    Factory
    Factory
  • Founded
    Cline
    2024
    Factory
    2023
  • Headquarters
    Cline
    Not listed
    Factory
    San Francisco, CA
  • Listing
    Cline
    Claimed
    Factory
    Claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is Cline better than Factory?

It depends on your workflow. Cline is built for developers who want an open-source agent with a choice of model providers, human approval at each step, and extensibility through MCP servers. Factory is built for delegating backlog tickets, automated pull request review, test generation, incident investigation and long-running refactors or migrations.

What are the key feature differences between Cline and Factory?

Cline: Open-source autonomous coding agent for your editor, terminal, and CI pipelines. Factory: Agent-native software development platform where Droids handle full engineering tasks end to end.

Does Cline or Factory have a free plan?

Cline has a free plan or trial; Factory is paid only.

Which is cheaper, Cline or Factory?

Cline starts at $0 and Factory starts at $20. See the pricing table above for what each tier includes.