Continue

Open-source AI coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, and headless terminal use.

Open Source Coding & Development
Visit Website ↗ by Continue Dev

What is Continue?

Continue is an open-source AI coding agent that lives inside VS Code and JetBrains IDEs, with a headless CLI for terminal and CI workflows. It brings chat, code autocomplete, and autonomous edit-and-run loops to any model you point it at, including local ones. With tens of thousands of stars and Apache-2.0 licensing, it is one of the most adopted self-hosted coding assistants available.

Key features

  • AI chat and code completion inside VS Code and JetBrains
  • Headless CLI mode for terminal and automation pipelines
  • Works with cloud models or local models
  • Agent mode with tool use for multi-step coding tasks

Watch: Continue tutorial

How to Supercharge Your Coding in VS Code with the Continue Plugin and Mistral's Codestral API How to Supercharge Your Coding in VS Code with the Continue Plugin and Mistral's Codestral API — MD HADIUZZAMAN

Video by MD HADIUZZAMAN on YouTube — plays here without leaving this page.

Pros

  • Huge community and mature, actively developed codebase
  • Model-agnostic, including fully local setups
  • Apache-2.0 license allows broad reuse

Cons

  • Configuration can feel fiddly for newcomers
  • Advanced agent behavior depends heavily on the chosen model

Continue at a glance

PricingOpen Source
CategoryCoding & Development
Platformswindows, macos, linux
CompanyContinue Dev
Official websitegithub.com
coding assistantai agentvs codejetbrainsopen sourcellm

How to choose the right Coding & Development tool

The right coding tool depends on where you write code and how much of your codebase it can understand. IDE integration is the first filter — a tool that lives in your editor, sees your project files and respects your stack will help far more than a general chatbot you paste snippets into. Look for accurate completions, clear explanations of suggested changes, and strong refactoring and debugging support for your main languages. Privacy deserves real attention: check whether your code is used for training, and whether a self-hosted or enterprise option exists for sensitive projects. Price against the hours it actually saves — most developers feel the difference within the first week of real use.

Compare all Coding & Development tools →

Continue FAQs

What is Continue?

Continue is an open-source AI coding agent that lives inside VS Code and JetBrains IDEs, with a headless CLI for terminal and CI workflows. It brings chat, code autocomplete, and autonomous edit-and-run loops to any model you point it at, including local ones. With tens of thousands of stars and Apache-2.0 licensing, it is one of the most adopted self-hosted coding assistants available.

What are the main features of Continue?

Continue offers AI chat and code completion inside VS Code and JetBrains, Headless CLI mode for terminal and automation pipelines, Works with cloud models or local models and Agent mode with tool use for multi-step coding tasks.

How much does Continue cost?

Continue is open source, so the software itself is free to download, use and self-host. Your only costs are the infrastructure you run it on and any paid services you connect to it.

What are the pros and cons of Continue?

Strengths of Continue include Huge community and mature, actively developed codebase; Model-agnostic, including fully local setups; Apache-2.0 license allows broad reuse. On the downside, Configuration can feel fiddly for newcomers; Advanced agent behavior depends heavily on the chosen model.