AI coding assistants · #7 of 34 · ↑ Windsurf · ↓ Continue
Cline
Cline ranks #7 of 34 in ai coding assistants in the week of 12 October 2026, with a visibility score of 20 across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. It was named in 36% of the answers we sampled.
Cline scores 18 out of 100 overall in the AI coding assistants category, named in 23 of 70 answers. Claude rates it highest at 31, followed by ChatGPT at 16, Perplexity at 13, and Gemini at 4. Cline shows up most for VS Code questions (3 of 3 answers) and open-source picks (3 of 3 answers), plus 3 of 4 for free AI coding assistants. It's never named for beginner-focused questions, pull request review tools, terminal use, large codebases, or Python-specific picks.
this is mine claim it, free, forever. We also check whether ChatGPT and Claude can read cline.bot.
Who's talking about you
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 17 | 25% of answers | #4.0 |
| Claude | 34 | 65% of answers | #5.9 |
| Gemini | 2 | 0% of answers | |
| Perplexity | 19 | 37% of answers | #4.6 |
Questions you win
| question | named in | best spot |
|---|---|---|
| What are the best free AI coding assistants? | 3 of 3 | #3 |
| What's the best open-source AI coding assistant? | 3 of 4 | #2 |
| What's the best AI coding assistant for VS Code? | 3 of 4 | #2 |
| What are the best alternatives to Claude Code? | 3 of 4 | #4 |
| What are the best alternatives to Cursor? | 3 of 4 | #5 |
| What are the best alternatives to Windsurf? | 2 of 3 | #4 |
| What's the best AI code editor right now? | 2 of 3 | #6 |
| What are the best AI coding agents that can work across a whole codebase? | 2 of 3 | #7 |
| What's the best AI coding assistant I can run locally for privacy? | 2 of 4 | #3 |
| What are the best alternatives to Aider? | 2 of 4 | #3 |
| What's the best AI coding assistant for a solo developer building a SaaS? | 2 of 4 | #4 |
| What are the top AI coding assistants in 2026? | 2 of 4 | #6 |
| What are the best AI coding assistants? | 2 of 4 | #7 |
| What's the best AI tool for writing and fixing React and Next.js code? | 1 of 3 | #4 |
| Which AI coding assistant gives the best value for the money? | 1 of 3 | #7 |
| Which AI coding tool is best for writing tests? | 1 of 4 | #3 |
| What are the best alternatives to GitHub Copilot? | 1 of 4 | #6 |
| Which AI coding tool writes the most reliable code? | 1 of 4 | #9 |
Questions you lose
| question | who got named instead |
|---|---|
| Which AI coding assistant is best for professional developers? | Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code |
| What's the best AI coding assistant for beginners learning to code? | GitHub Copilot, Cursor |
| What's the best AI coding assistant for Python? | Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code |
| Which AI coding assistant is best for large codebases? | Claude Code, Cursor, Sourcegraph Cody |
| What's the best AI tool to review pull requests automatically? | CodeRabbit, Greptile, GitHub Copilot |
| What's the best AI coding assistant that works in the terminal? | Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Aider |
| What's the best AI coding assistant for building mobile apps? | Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code |
Assistants cited 13 pages for questions in this category that name your rivals and not you. Claim to see them. See all sources for AI coding assistants.
In their words
- ChatGPT“If you're looking for an alternative to Aider — the terminal-based, Git-aware AI pair programmer — my top recommendations are OpenCode, Claude Code, Cline, and OpenAI Codex CLI\.”
- Claude“Cline and Roo Code — open source, BYO-API-key, agentic editing with plan/act modes.”
- Perplexity“| Cline | Control and model flexibility | Open-source coding agent with bring-your-own-key support and agentic workflows.”
Closest rivals
- Cline vs Windsurf21
- Cline vs OpenAI Codex22
- Cline vs Aider23
- Cline vs Continue15
- Cline vs JetBrains AI Assistant11
All Cline alternatives · Full AI coding assistants leaderboard · Sources