Bolt vs Cline: Side-by-Side Comparison 2026

Feature	Bolt	Cline
Category	Builder	Agent
Starting Price	Free	Free
Model Family	Claude	Multi-model (any)
Context Window	200K (via Claude)	Depends on model (up to 1M)
Code Completion	✗	✗
Chat	✓	✓
Inline Editing	✓	✓
Agentic Mode	✓	✓
Multi-File Editing	✓	✓
Terminal Commands	✓	✓
Browser Use	✗	✓
Test Generation	✗	✓
Debugging	✓	✓
Refactoring	✓	✓
Code Review	✗	✗
PR Review	✗	✗
Documentation	✗	✓
Image to Code	✗	✗
Voice Input	✗	✗
App Generation	✓	✓
Deployment	✗	✗
Git Integration	✓	✓
Supported IDEs	Bolt (browser-based IDE)	VS Code
Open Source	No	Yes (Apache 2.0)

Feature

Overview

Bolt is app builder from StackBlitz. Cline is ai agent from Cline (Open Source). Both tools are actively maintained as of 2026.

Bolt: What You Get

Browser-based AI app builder by StackBlitz that generates, runs, and deploys full-stack web applications from natural language prompts.

Full-stack generation
In-browser IDE
One-click deploy
Package management
Live preview

Pricing: Free / $20/mo. 5 plans available.

Models: Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Cline: What You Get

Cline — AI Coding Agent from Cline (Open Source). VS Code Agent.

AI chat
Agentic mode
Multi-file editing
Terminal commands
Test generation
Debugging
Git integration
App generation

Pricing: Free / $20/mo. 3 plans available.

Models: Claude Sonnet 4.5 (1M), Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4, Gemini, 50+ via OpenRouter, local (Ollama/LM Studio)

Key Differences

Category: Bolt is app builder, Cline is ai agent.
Model family: Bolt uses Claude; Cline uses Multi-model (any).

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Bolt if you want Go from idea to deployed app in minutes. Choose Cline if you want Cline handles multi-step tasks independently. Both tools are strong options — the right choice depends on your workflow and priorities.

Overview

Bolt: What You Get

Cline: What You Get

Key Differences

Which Should You Choose?

Stay in the loop