What is the main difference between Cline and SWE-agent?

Cline and SWE-agent are both ai coding agents but differ in their approach, features, and target audience. Compare their GitHub stats, technology stack, and community adoption to make the best choice.

Which is better: Cline or SWE-agent?

The choice between Cline and SWE-agent depends on your specific needs, technical requirements, and team preferences. Both are quality open source solutions with active communities.

Can I migrate from Cline to SWE-agent?

Migration between Cline and SWE-agent is possible but requires careful planning. Consider data export/import capabilities, feature parity, and potential workflow changes.

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Cline vs SWE-agent

Learn how Cline and SWE-agent differ in their key features, development activity, technology stack and community adoption, so you can decide which of these ai coding agents is best for you.

Cline

AI coding agent that runs inside VS Code and the terminal, supporting multi-file edits, bash execution, and any LLM provider via bring-your-own-key.

Visit Cline Read more

71,455stars+1,382(+2%)

Last 30 days

Last commit
2 days ago
Repository age
2 years
Version
v4.1.26
License
Apache-2.0
Repository
cline/cline

SWE-agent

State-of-the-art AI agent that uses language models like GPT-4o to autonomously solve GitHub issues, fix bugs, and implement features with configurable YAML setup.

Visit SWE-agent Read more

20,755stars+244(+1.2%)

Last 30 days

Last commit
6 days ago
Repository age
3 years
Version
v1.1.0
License
MIT
Repository
swe-agent/swe-agent

Detailed Comparison

Both Cline and SWE-agent have their unique strengths and serve similar purposes effectively. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, growth, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.

Cline wins

Community & Popularity

Cline significantly outpaces SWE-agent in community adoption with 71,455 stars compared to 20,755 stars on GitHub. This 3.4x difference suggests Cline has a much larger and more active community. In terms of developer contributions, Cline has 7,890 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.

Cline wins

Growth Momentum

Cline is growing faster, adding 1,382 stars in the last 30 days (+2%) against adding 244 stars for SWE-agent (+1.2%). Cline is both larger and pulling further ahead.

Comparable

Development Activity

Both projects show recent activity, with Cline last updated 2 days ago and SWE-agent 6 days ago.

Comparable

Technology Stack

Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with JavaScript, CSS, Bash, Python. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Cline uses Typescript, JSX, Ruby.

Comparable

Project Maturity

Both projects started around the same time, with Cline beginning 2 years ago and SWE-agent 3 years ago.

SWE-agent wins

Licensing

SWE-agent uses the MIT license, which is more permissive than Cline's Apache-2.0 license, potentially offering greater flexibility for commercial use and integration.

Comparable