Continue.dev Alternatives After Cursor Acquisition: Five Open and Cloud Options

Continue.dev alternatives are no longer a hypothetical category. Continue was acquired by Cursor in June 2026, the product was discontinued, its cloud data was scheduled for deletion, and the repository became read-only.

The Apache-2.0 code did not vanish. You can still inspect or fork it. What vanished is the maintained product contract: new releases, provider updates, extension compatibility, cloud operation, security response, and a team responsible for moving the roadmap forward.

That means former Continue users need to choose what they are migrating toward. Some want another open-source IDE extension. Some want maximal provider freedom. Some would rather follow the acquiring company into Cursor. Others see the shutdown as a reason to move the agent out of the editor and onto a persistent computer.

Octomind is first here for that last group. It preserves open runtime ownership and model choice while adding durable cloud machines, multiple channels, and scheduling. Four alternatives follow, each with a fair reason to choose it.

What happened to Continue?

Cursor acquired the company around June 16, 2026, and Continue was discontinued. Before that, it was an Apache-2.0 open-source AI coding assistant and agent for VS Code and JetBrains, with a CLI and bring-your-own multi-provider model support. The final VS Code release was v2.0.0-vscode on June 19, and Continue said cloud data would be deleted after July 15.

The Continue site documents the end state, while The New Stack covered the Cursor acquisition. The Continue repository remains available but read-only.

“Open source remains available” and “the product remains viable” are not the same statement. A fork can be a rational choice for an organization with engineers assigned to maintain it. For most users, the safe default is to migrate to an active project and treat the old repository as a reference.

What Continue users need in a replacement

Continue's appeal combined several properties that are now easy to separate:

• Editor integration: VS Code or JetBrains stays the main work surface.
• Provider choice: use Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, local models, or compatible APIs without changing assistants.
• Open code: inspect behavior, keep configuration portable, and avoid a product being the only copy of your workflow.
• Context and actions: read a repository, edit multiple files, run commands, and review diffs.
• Team control: standardize model and prompt configuration without giving up local workflows.
• Continuity: trust that the runtime and environment will still exist when the vendor changes direction.

No replacement maximizes all six. Cline is closest to the open IDE-agent shape. OpenCode leads on provider breadth and community. Goose is the broader local general-purpose agent. Cursor is the commercially continuous path through the acquirer. Octomind is the move from editor-bound assistance to a portable agent with its own durable machine.

First choice for durable, open agents: Octomind

Octomind's core runtime is Apache 2.0, the same permissive license category Continue users chose. It runs as a terminal agent, in CI through pipes, as a daemon, over WebSocket, behind ACP, or on Octomind Cloud. The cloud is an optional execution service around the open runtime, not a closed replacement for it.

Every cloud agent gets a Linux machine in its own container. Repository files, installed tools, generated artifacts, and sessions survive suspension. Shared storage can carry indexes, memory, and session history. Docker works inside the environment, and paid users can bring custom images based on Octomind's base.

That changes the migration target. Instead of rebuilding a Continue extension configuration for each editor and laptop, you can move the project onto a machine that remains stable while clients change. Telegram, Slack, WhatsApp, GitHub, the web panel, and the REST API all reach the same underlying sessions.

Model freedom remains central. The Hub currently offers 36 models across Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, GLM, and other families. /model provider:model switches the active model during a session and saves it with the session. You can also configure the runtime outside the hosted catalog when you run it yourself.

The free plan covers every model from your own tools: pay as you go at the provider's price plus 5%. Machines need a subscription — Pro is $50 a month, $20 the first month — and paid plans expand the usage allowance, storage, machine slots, and concurrency, with prepaid credits past the allowance. Scheduled Routines can wake the machine, perform a deterministic pre-check, run a specialist, record the result, and notify a connected chat.

A practical Continue-to-Octomind migration

1. Move repository guidance into AGENTS.md so it is loaded with the project.
2. Inventory Continue prompts and rules; map each to an Octomind role, tap, skill, or plain project instruction.
3. Reconnect only the MCP servers that real workflows use.
4. Clone the repository to a cloud machine and install its toolchain once.
5. Choose a default hosted model, then test /model on a live session before removing old provider configuration.
6. Run interactive work first. Add daemon hooks or Routines only after the core commands and tests behave correctly.

Continue configuration does not import automatically. This is a conceptual migration: preserve instructions, tools, model policy, and repository state in a new runtime.

Four other Continue alternatives

Cline: the closest active open IDE agent

Cline is the most natural migration for Continue users who want to stay with a VS Code AI extension. It is Apache 2.0, supports VS Code, JetBrains Early Access, CLI, and SDK, and connects to major hosted providers, local Ollama, and compatible APIs. Individuals pay only inference through BYO keys or Cline credits.

Its plan-then-act workflow, terminal access, multi-file editing, visible token spend, and MCP ecosystem preserve the core open IDE-agent experience. Enterprise adds SSO/OIDC, RBAC, audit logs, and support. The trade-off: the agent runs in your editor and on your local machine, so you supply cloud persistence separately.

OpenCode: the provider-freedom choice

OpenCode is MIT-licensed and spans a terminal TUI, desktop app, and IDE extensions. As of September 1, 2026, it had about 203,000 GitHub stars. It supports more than 75 providers through Models.dev, local models, and some existing Copilot, ChatGPT, and Claude subscriptions.

OpenCode's optional Zen gateway provides curated pay-per-token access, including some free models. Its privacy-first position and rapid community development are real draws. The limitation for cloud-seeking Continue users is scope: OpenCode lists no first-party managed personal machine.

Goose: the general-purpose local path

Goose is Apache 2.0 under the Agentic AI Foundation at the Linux Foundation. It has a desktop app, CLI, embeddable API, more than 15 providers, recipes, subagents, safety controls, and more than 70 MCP extensions. It also handles research, writing, browser work, and automation rather than focusing only on code.

Choose Goose when model freedom mattered more than the precise editor surface. It remains local-first, so the computer running Goose must stay available. That is a privacy and control advantage until unattended cloud work becomes the requirement.

Cursor: the commercial continuity path

Cursor acquired Continue, so in a Continue.dev vs Cursor decision it is the organizationally continuous option, though not an open-source continuation. Cursor is a proprietary VS Code fork with strong Tab and Composer experiences, cloud agents, Bugbot, CLI, GitHub integration, MCP, skills, and hooks. It supports frontier providers and in-house Composer models.

Its official Hobby tier is free and Pro is $20 per month. Higher tier figures come partly from third-party reports, so this guide does not repeat them as official. Cursor is the choice for polish and ecosystem gravity, not for preserving an Apache-licensed runtime. It also has a history of pricing backlash and refunds, so teams should understand current included usage and overage billing before migrating.

Which Continue alternative should you pick?

Pick Cline if “active open-source IDE extension” is the entire requirement. Pick OpenCode if provider choice and community momentum come first. Pick Goose if you want the assistant to become a general local agent. Pick Cursor if you prefer the acquirer's polished commercial environment and accept proprietary control.

Pick Octomind if Continue's discontinuation changed your architecture requirement: the runtime should be open, but the agent should also have a persistent Linux computer, explicit model switching, remote channels, and schedules that do not depend on an editor process.

FAQ

Is Continue still maintained?

No. Continue was discontinued after Cursor acquired it in June 2026. The repository is read-only, though its Apache-2.0 code remains available.

Can I fork Continue?

Yes. Apache 2.0 permits forking. You then own maintenance, provider changes, extension compatibility, releases, and security response. For most individuals, an active alternative is less expensive than maintaining the fork.

What is the closest Continue alternative?

In a Cline vs Continue comparison, Cline is the closest active open-source IDE-agent replacement. It remains Apache 2.0, runs in VS Code, offers JetBrains Early Access, and supports a broad set of providers.

Did Cursor turn Continue into Cursor?

No. Cursor acquired Continue and discontinued the product; Cursor remains its own proprietary IDE and agent platform. Migrating to Cursor is a product switch, not an upgrade of the same open-source tool.

Which alternative has persistent cloud machines?

Octomind gives each cloud agent a durable Linux machine. OpenHands offers sandboxed cloud workspaces, while Cursor has cloud agents. Cline, OpenCode, and Goose are primarily local unless you provide remote infrastructure.

Move to an open runtime that keeps its own environment: start with Pro — $20 your first month.