Side by side
| Feature | Cline | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Open-source AI coding agent for editors, terminal and SDK that plans and executes multi-file code changes with any model. | A unified API and chat interface giving access to 500+ AI models from 80+ providers, for developers and teams who want one key and better uptime. |
| Price from | not listed | not listed |
| Free plan | yes | yes |
| Platforms | web, mac, windows, linux, api, chrome | web, api |
| API | yes | yes |
Cline: key features
- Plan and Act modes with step approval or auto-approve
- Coordinated multi-file edits with diffs, checkpoints and undo
- Runs bash commands and reacts to terminal output
- MCP integration and custom tools via SDK
- Multi-agent teams and scheduled runs
- Works with any model, including local Ollama and LM Studio
OpenRouter: key features
- Single OpenAI-compatible API key for 500+ models from 80+ providers
- Automatic fallback to other providers when one goes down
- Chat interface for trying models directly
- Model rankings, benchmarks and price comparison
- Activity logs and export
- Budgets, spend controls and data policy-based routing on paid plans
FAQ
Is Cline or OpenRouter better?
It depends on the job - compare prices, free plans and features in the table above.
Are Cline and OpenRouter free?
Cline: Yes, there is a free plan. The open source extension is free for individual developers; you pay only for AI inference, either with your own API keys or via the Cline provider. OpenRouter: Yes, there is a free plan. Free plan: 25+ free models, 4 free providers, chat and API access, activity logs, 5 workspaces, 50 requests/day, community support.