Claude Cowork vs Cline: Side-by-Side Comparison 2026
Claude Cowork vs Cline comparison 2026. Side-by-side features, pricing & capabilities.
| Feature | Claude Cowork | Cline |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Agent | Agent |
| Starting Price | $20/mo | Free |
| Model Family | Claude | Multi-model (any) |
| Context Window | 1M (beta) | 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 | N/A (Desktop app) | VS Code |
| Open Source | No | Yes (Apache 2.0) |
Pricing verified 2026-02-05. Claude Cowork pricing | Cline pricing
Overview
Claude Cowork is ai agent from Anthropic. Cline is ai agent from Cline (Open Source). Both tools are actively maintained as of 2026.
Claude Cowork: What You Get
Claude Cowork — AI Desktop Agent from Anthropic. Autonomous File/Task Agent.
- Code completions
- AI chat
- Agentic mode
- Multi-file editing
- Terminal commands
Pricing: $20/mo. 5 plans available.
Models: Claude Opus 4.6, Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Haiku 4.5
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: Claude Cowork is ai agent, Cline is ai agent.
- Free tier: Cline has a free tier; Claude Cowork does not.
- Model family: Claude Cowork uses Claude; Cline uses Multi-model (any).
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Claude Cowork if you want Claude Cowork handles multi-step tasks independently. 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.
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