Cline vs Roo Code vs Cursor

AI coding assistants have evolved from simple autocomplete tools into powerful coding partners. Cline, Roo Code, and Cursor each offer a unique way to bring AI into your workflow.

Cline runs inside VS Code as an AI agent. It can create files, run commands, and browse the web—with your approval at every step.

Roo Code builds on Cline and adds AI “personalities” for various tasks, such as security checks or performance tuning, essentially creating a team of AI experts.

Cursor rebuilt VS Code from scratch, putting AI at the core. It’s designed to anticipate your needs and make AI feel like a natural part of the coding process.

This guide explains how each tool works, what makes them different, and which one suits your style.

What is Cline?

Cline turns your regular VS Code into an AI powerhouse through a smart extension. It uses Claude 3.7 Sonnet's advanced capabilities to handle complex coding tasks step by step. Instead of just suggesting code, it acts like a complete development assistant that understands your entire project.

What makes Cline special is how it balances power with safety. Every file change and terminal command needs your approval, so you stay in control while the AI does the heavy lifting. This careful approach has made it popular with professional developers who need reliable AI assistance.

Cline reads your entire codebase, analyzes file structures, and runs searches to understand your project deeply. It can fix simple bugs or handle complex refactoring across multiple files while keeping track of your project's architecture and dependencies.

You can use different AI providers with Cline - OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, and even local models on your computer. Recent updates include experimental Claude 4 support in v3.17.9, and the MCP Marketplace launched in February 2025 (v3.4), enabling Cline to create custom tools and extend its capabilities beyond basic coding tasks.

What is Roo Code?

Roo Code started as a copy of Cline but grew into something much more powerful. Instead of having one general AI assistant, you can create specialized AI personalities for different types of work. Think of it as having multiple AI experts on your team.

The key innovation is custom modes. You can create an AI security expert, a performance optimizer, a documentation writer, or a QA engineer. Each one has its own personality and focuses on specific tasks. When you need security advice, you switch to security mode. When you need documentation help, you switch to documentation mode.

Roo Code can do everything Cline does - read and write multiple files, run terminal commands, and automate browser tasks. But it adds layers of customization that let you shape each AI personality exactly how you want. The platform recently launched its marketplace system (v3.21) for sharing and discovering custom modes created by the community, transforming Roo Code from a single AI assistant into a comprehensive development ecosystem.

Power users often add tools like Memory Bank to help their AI personalities remember project details across sessions. This creates a consistent experience where the AI truly understands your project's history and coding standards over time.

What is Cursor?

Cursor didn't just add AI to an existing editor - they rebuilt everything from the ground up with AI in mind. While it's based on VS Code, every feature is designed to work seamlessly with artificial intelligence. The result feels less like using an AI tool and more like having AI-powered intuition.

Cursor's biggest strength is prediction. Cursor Tab doesn't just complete your current line - it anticipates entire functions and changes across multiple files based on what you're doing. Many developers say it feels like the AI is reading their mind, finishing thoughts they haven't even fully formed yet.

The Agent mode can work independently across your entire project. You can ask it to implement a complex feature, and it will create files, run tests, and handle configurations while keeping you informed. The platform has attracted significant investment and adoption, raising over $60 million and gaining users from companies like OpenAI, Shopify, and Instacart. Cursor 1.0 launched in 2025 with unified request-based pricing and Background Agent capabilities that allow you to delegate longer tasks while continuing to work on other aspects of your project.

Cline vs Roo Code vs Cursor

Choosing the right AI coding assistant can significantly impact how you work and your level of productivity. Here's how these three compare:

Agent capabilities

The real test of any AI coding assistant is what it can accomplish without you holding its hand every step of the way.

Cline works like a thoughtful coding partner. It analyzes your project, runs searches to understand context, and handles multi-step tasks while explaining each decision clearly. Cline excels at breaking down complex requests into manageable pieces and adapting when you change requirements mid-task.

Roo Code gives you a specialized development team. Through custom modes, you can deploy different AI personalities for different work. A security expert that hunts for vulnerabilities, a performance specialist that finds bottlenecks, or a documentation writer that maintains project knowledge. Each personality has its own expertise and problem-solving approach.

Cursor provides intelligent autonomous assistance. Its Agent mode can navigate complex codebases independently, implement features across multiple files, and handle testing workflows while understanding your broader project goals. Cursor's strength is recognizing architectural patterns and making decisions that fit with your existing code structure.

Code completion and prediction

Nothing matters more for daily coding than whether the AI can keep up with your thoughts as you type.

Cline focuses on understanding over speed. It analyzes your entire project structure to provide suggestions that stay consistent across your codebase. While it prioritizes accuracy over instant completion, its suggestions often connect to larger automated tasks you can trigger.

Roo Code enhances completions through specialized knowledge. Different AI personalities provide completions tailored to specific contexts. Architectural suggestions when you're designing systems, security-focused completions when working on authentication, or performance-optimized suggestions during optimization work. This specialization often produces more relevant suggestions than general-purpose completion.

Cursor delivers the best predictive completion available. The Tab completion model, updated in 2025, has an almost supernatural ability to predict not just your next line but entire functions and cross-file changes. Many developers report that Cursor anticipates their intentions with startling accuracy, creating a coding experience that feels like thinking at computer speed.

Context understanding

An AI that doesn't understand your project is just an expensive autocomplete tool.

Cline provides comprehensive project analysis. Through code parsing, regex searches, and file structure analysis, it builds a detailed understanding of your codebase that lasts throughout your session. The platform remembers previous conversations and decisions, maintaining consistency across long development sessions.

Roo Code adds persistent project memory. Advanced users implement Memory Bank systems that preserve context across sessions, ensuring AI personalities remember your coding standards, architectural decisions, and project-specific requirements. This creates a development experience where the AI truly grows to understand your project over time instead of starting fresh each session.

Cursor integrates context at the IDE level. Through .cursorrules files and Notepad features, it maintains project-specific guidelines and context that inform every AI interaction, from code completion to chat responses. The deep VS Code integration means it understands not just your code but your entire development environment and workflow patterns.

Model selection and AI providers

Different coding tasks need different levels of AI intelligence - and you shouldn't pay premium prices for simple work.

Cline offers maximum flexibility in model choice. The platform supports OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, AWS Bedrock, Azure, GCP Vertex, and local models through LM Studio or Ollama. This flexibility lets you use premium models for complex reasoning tasks while choosing cost-effective options for routine work.

Roo Code provides similar model flexibility with specialized optimization. Different AI personalities can use different models based on their specialized needs. You might use reasoning models for architectural work while using faster models for code completion. This granular control helps optimize both performance and costs.

Cursor delivers premium models with proprietary enhancements. The platform provides access to cutting-edge models like GPT-4.1, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and Gemini 2.5, often with custom fine-tuning or integration features you can't get elsewhere. While this comes with subscription costs, you gain access to models and features optimized specifically for the Cursor environment.

Development workflow integration

The best AI coding assistant is the one that fits into how you already work, not one that forces you to change everything.

Cline enhances your current VS Code workflow. As an extension to your familiar editor, it adds powerful AI capabilities without forcing you to abandon your existing setup, extensions, or keyboard shortcuts. The human-in-the-loop approach means you maintain full control while gaining AI assistance for complex tasks.

Roo Code transforms VS Code into a multi-agent environment. The platform turns your editor into a collaborative space where different AI specialists contribute their expertise to your project. This creates a workflow where you can seamlessly switch between different types of AI assistance based on your current needs.

Cursor reimagines the entire development environment around AI. Every aspect of the IDE is designed to work with AI, from the interface layout to the command palette to file management. This creates the smoothest AI experience but requires adapting to a new development environment.

Pricing and value proposition

Money talks, especially when you're paying monthly subscriptions or racking up API costs.

Cline operates on a transparent pay-per-use model. The platform itself is free, and you only pay for the AI models you choose to use. This gives you complete control over costs - you can use free local models for basic tasks and premium models only when needed for complex reasoning.

Roo Code follows a similar free-platform approach. The enhanced features and custom modes are available at no additional cost beyond your chosen AI model usage. This makes it accessible to developers at any budget level while providing enterprise-grade capabilities.

Cursor requires subscription fees for full functionality. Plans range from $20/month for Pro to $200/month for Ultra, with the free tier providing limited usage. While this creates ongoing costs, you gain access to premium models, proprietary features, and guaranteed performance that may justify the expense for professional development.

Privacy and security considerations

Your code is your intellectual property - make sure you know where it's going and who can see it.

Cline emphasizes user control over data. The platform operates through your chosen AI providers, giving you control over where your code is processed and whether it's used for training. Support for local models means sensitive projects can run entirely on your own hardware.

Roo Code provides similar data control flexibility. As an open-source platform, you can audit exactly how your code is handled and modify the behavior if needed. The ability to use local models ensures that sensitive codebases never leave your development environment.

Cursor offers enterprise-grade security features. The platform is SOC 2 certified and provides Privacy Mode where code is never stored remotely. For organizations requiring strict security compliance, Cursor's commercial backing provides additional assurance and support.

Final thoughts

If you like your current workflow and want smart AI support without changing much, Cline is a good fit. It works inside VS Code, gives you full control, and helps out only when you say so.

Roo Code is great if you enjoy customizing your tools. You can set up different AI roles for different tasks, like security checks or performance tuning, making it feel like a team of AI specialists working alongside you.

Cursor is a more polished, all-in-one experience. It’s built around AI from the ground up and can often anticipate what you need. It’s a strong option if you want a modern, AI-first coding environment and are okay with paying for extra features.

Each one offers a different take on AI-assisted development. The right choice depends on how you like to code and how much help you want from AI.

Got an article suggestion? Let us know

Explore more

Top 12 AI Coding Tools in 2025

Discover the 10 most innovative AI coding tools of 2025, from integrated development environments to conversational assistants that are transforming how developers build software.

Cline vs Roo Code vs Cursor

Compare Cline vs Roo Code vs Cursor - the top 3 AI coding assistants of 2025. Features, pricing, pros & cons to help you choose the best AI code editor.

GitHub Copilot vs. Cursor vs. Windsurf

Compare GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Windsurf AI coding assistants. Features, pricing, and performance analysis to help you choose the best AI tool.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.