Continue
Open-source AI coding assistant for VS Code and JetBrains with 25K+ GitHub stars. Apache 2.0, one JSON config, and any model you like — hosted or local.
About Continue
Continue is the open-source AI coding assistant that does not pick your model for you. One Apache 2.0 extension for VS Code and JetBrains, one JSON config, and you point it at whatever you want — a frontier API, a cheap open-weight host, or a model running locally on your own machine. Continue has over 25,000 GitHub stars and is the cleanest open bet in AI coding.
What is Continue?
Continue sits inside VS Code and JetBrains and provides completions, chat and edits against any model you configure. The architecture is the product: one extension, one config file, every provider pluggable, and a self-hosting story the closed tools cannot match. That combination makes it the standard recommendation for three groups — developers who cannot send code to a third-party service, developers who do not want another subscription, and JetBrains users, where commercial AI tooling has always been thinner than in VS Code. Pair it with Ollama or LM Studio serving a local Qwen3 or Llama 4 model and you have a completely offline coding assistant with no recurring cost.
Key Features
- Any model, any provider: Frontier APIs, open-weight hosts, or local models — configured in one JSON file.
- Apache 2.0: Genuinely open source, with no usage restrictions or telemetry requirement.
- VS Code and JetBrains: One assistant across both editor families.
- Local-first option: Works fully offline against Ollama or LM Studio.
- Context providers: Pull in files, folders, terminal output, docs and git diffs as chat context.
Who Should Use Continue?
Continue is for developers who value control over convenience. If your employer prohibits sending code to external services, or you want to run a local model, it is the obvious choice. If you work in JetBrains and find Copilot's integration thin, it is worth trying. And if you already pay for frontier API access, Continue lets you use that budget in the editor instead of buying a second subscription. What you give up is polish: Cursor and Copilot's agent modes are more capable out of the box, and Continue asks you to configure things they decide for you.
Pricing
The extension itself is free under Apache 2.0, with no paid tier. Your cost is whatever your chosen model provider charges — which can be a frontier API rate, a few cents per million tokens on an open-weight host, or literally nothing if you serve a local model through Ollama or LM Studio. There is no lock-in: switching providers is a config change.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free, open source, Apache 2.0 | Needs configuration commercial tools handle for you |
| Bring any model, including fully local ones | Output quality is entirely your model choice |
| First-class JetBrains support | Agent capabilities trail Cursor and Copilot |
| No subscription and no vendor lock-in | You manage your own keys and spend |
Bottom Line
Continue is the best free AI coding assistant in 2026, and the only mainstream one that lets you run entirely offline. Choose it if privacy, budget or JetBrains support is your constraint. If you want the most capable agentic editing with zero setup and are willing to pay for it, Cursor or GitHub Copilot remain ahead.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Free and Apache 2.0 licensed
- Bring any model — hosted or fully local
- Works in JetBrains as well as VS Code
- No vendor lock-in and no subscription
Cons
- Requires configuration that commercial tools handle for you
- Quality depends entirely on the model you plug in
- Agentic features lag Cursor and Copilot
- You manage your own API keys and costs
Use Cases
Tags
Company Info
- Company
- Continue.dev
- Founded
- 2023~
- HQ
- San Francisco, USA~
- Pricing
- free
- Last verified
- 2026-08-29
~ Approximate. Verify at the official website.
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Is Continue free?▾
Yes, Continue is completely free to use.
What is Continue used for?▾
Open-source AI coding assistant for VS Code and JetBrains with 25K+ GitHub stars. Apache 2.0, one JSON config, and any model you like — hosted or local. Key use cases include: Copilot alternative with no subscription, Fully local AI coding with Ollama, JetBrains AI assistance.
What are the pros and cons of Continue?▾
Pros: Free and Apache 2.0 licensed; Bring any model — hosted or fully local; Works in JetBrains as well as VS Code. Cons: Requires configuration that commercial tools handle for you; Quality depends entirely on the model you plug in.
Who makes Continue?▾
Continue is developed by Continue.dev, founded in 2023.
What are the best alternatives to Continue?▾
Top alternatives to Continue include DeepSeek, Bolt.new, ChatGPT. You can compare them all on AIFans.
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