TODO for AI
vs 
Cline
By Marcell Havlik, founder of TODO for AI · Updated
Open-source VS Code agent extension, bring your own keys, plan and act modes. Here is where each one wins, with numbers, and who should pick which.
| Fact | Cline | TODO for AI |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | IDE extension | Web, desktop, mobile, CLI, IDE (Zed, JetBrains, VS Code), voice |
| Models | Any provider (BYOK) | Any provider: Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, Ollama |
| Source | Open | Edge + CLI public |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
Key takeaways
- Models. Cline model choice: Any provider (BYOK). TODO for AI runs any provider, Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok or a local Ollama model, on one plan, and one model can review another's work.
- Benchmark. TODO for AI scored 89.9% on Terminal-Bench 2.1 with Opus 5.5 (high) (own harness, 80/89 tasks, 2026-10-08; not an official leaderboard submission).
- Price. Cline pricing: Free extension. Tokens billed by your provider. TODO for AI has a free plan (Claude Sonnet only), then Starter $20, Pro $100 or Ultra $200 a month with any provider included.
- Where the work happens. Cline gets one task done inside the editor. TODO for AI is one board your team and agents work through together, on your own PC, a cloud VM and your logged-in Chrome.
- Who should pick which. Pick Cline if you want an open agent inside VS Code. Pick TODO for AI if you want tasks to keep running after you close the editor.
Cline
Any provider (BYOK)
TODO for AI
Any providerWe are not competing for the same job
Cline gets the task done.
TODO for AI organises the whole company’s work.
Cline answers one question: how do I get this task done, inside the editor? So do the others — Cursor inside the editor, Claude Code in one person's session, Lindy by asking its assistant.
We answer a different one: where does the work live? One board per project, and a project for each part of the company — engineering, marketing, ops, finance, one per client. Your colleagues work on it. So do your agents, as many as you want to run, each with its own model, tools and permissions. Items carry the people who worked them and the agent that ran them, and the board filters by person, so what the company has in flight is one screen instead of a Slack thread.
That is not a team plan bolted onto an AI tool. It is the product. The agents are how items get closed; the board is what the company runs on.
What Cline is, and where it stops
Cline is the most popular open agent inside VS Code. Plan and act modes, strong MCP support, any model through your own keys. For a developer who wants an agent without leaving the editor and without a closed vendor, it is a sensible default.
Its limits are the editor's limits. It runs while VS Code runs, on your machine, on your tokens. There is no cloud, no browser automation beyond what an MCP server gives you, and no concept of a team.
VS Code users who want an open agent with their own keys.
Three reasons Cline users look elsewhere
Tasks stop when the editor closes. Nothing runs overnight or on a schedule.
Bring your own key means bring your own bill, and agentic loops on Opus add up quickly.
Marketing, SEO, email and ops are out of scope.
Six dimensions that decide it
Cline 15/30TODO for AI 29/30How does Cline compare to TODO for AI, feature by feature?
| Feature | Cline | TODO for AI |
|---|---|---|
Persistent cloud VM An always-on machine. Files, logins and sessions survive between runs. | No | Yes |
Model choice | Any (BYOK) | Any provider |
Cross-vendor review Review GPT output with Claude, or the other way around. | No | Yes |
Drives your real browser Browser extension (Chrome, Firefox) plus cloud browsers. | No | Yes |
Business tasks, not only code SEO, email, ads, social, CRM via CLI tools. | No | Yes |
Any CLI as an integration | MCP | Any binary |
Voice control | No | Yes |
People and agents on one board Colleagues and agents work the same list. Items show who contributed and which agent ran them; filter the board by person. | No | Yes |
Many agents, each configured Each agent gets its own model, prompt, tools and permissions. Pick which one takes an item. | One agent | Unlimited, per task |
Projects for the whole company Engineering, marketing, ops, finance: separate projects and agents, one team and one bill. | No | Unlimited, shared |
Team roles, pooled usage | No | Roles + pooled |
Tool permissions | Basic | Allow, approve, block |
Open runtime | Yes | Edge + CLI public |
What it costs
Free extension. Tokens billed by your provider.
Hobby free (Sonnet only), Starter $20, Pro $100, Ultra $200. Paid plans include any model provider.