Continue
Open-source, model-agnostic AI code assistant for VS Code and JetBrains that you configure to your own stack
Open Source
About Continue
Continue is an open-source AI coding assistant (Apache 2.0) for VS Code and JetBrains, plus a Continue CLI. It's model-agnostic, so you bring your own keys and point it at OpenAI, Anthropic, local Ollama models, or custom endpoints rather than getting locked into one provider. Modes cover Agent, Chat, Edit, and Autocomplete, and Continue Hub lets you build and share custom assistants, rules, and prompts. It suits developers and teams who want full control over their models, context, and configuration.
Key Features
- Open-source core under the Apache 2.0 license
- VS Code and JetBrains extensions plus a Continue CLI
- Model-agnostic: bring your own keys for OpenAI, Anthropic, local Ollama, and custom endpoints
- Agent, Chat, Edit, and Autocomplete modes inside your editor
- Continue Hub for building and sharing custom assistants, rules, and prompts
- Source-controlled AI checks you can enforce in CI
Pros & Cons
What we like
- No vendor lock-in, you pick and swap the underlying model
- Can run fully local through Ollama for privacy-sensitive code
- Deeply configurable assistants, rules, and context providers
- Free, self-hostable open-source core
Room for improvement
- Real setup and config effort before it feels tuned to your workflow
- You supply and pay for your own model API keys (BYO key)
- The JetBrains plugin is now community-maintained, with the CLI as the recommended path
- Hub team features (private rules, SSO, BYOK) sit behind paid plans
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Continue?
Continue is an open source AI coding assistant that runs inside VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. It provides chat, inline edits, autocomplete, and agent workflows, and it lets you bring your own models from providers like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Ollama, giving you full control over your AI stack.
Is Continue free?
The Continue extension is free and open source. You can run it on your own API keys or on local models, paying only the model provider, or self host for no per token cost at all. Continue also offers a hosted free plan plus paid team tiers starting around 10 dollars a month, as of 2026.
Who is Continue for?
Continue is for developers who want an open, customizable assistant rather than a closed product, including those who prefer local models for privacy or cost. It fits people who want to mix and match models per task, define their own context providers, and keep their assistant configuration in version control.
How is Continue different from GitHub Copilot?
Continue is open source and model agnostic, so you choose and swap the underlying models and can run them locally. Copilot is a closed product tied to its own model selection with a flat subscription. Continue trades Copilot's polished out of the box experience for transparency, configurability, and the option to avoid sending code to a third party.
Best For
Pairing a frontier or local model with your editor without provider lock-inRunning a private, local-only coding assistant via OllamaStandardizing shared assistants, rules, and prompts across a teamEnforcing source-controlled AI code checks in CI
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