Cline vs Portkey (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
Portkey is our pick, scoring 7.8/10 against 7.1/10 for Cline on our AI Software criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Analytics score (9/10 vs 5/10). For 10 users, Cline and Portkey are both free; both Cline and Portkey have a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
Cline
7.1/10
Open-source autonomous AI coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the terminal that plans and executes multi-step development tasks with developer approval.
Portkey
7.8/10
Portkey is an AI gateway and LLMOps control plane that routes, monitors, and governs requests to 1,600+ LLMs for engineering teams and enterprises.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.1/10 | 7.8/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 9/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Output Quality | 8/10 | Not listed |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $49/mo Production |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Open Source | Free Open Source |
| Features | ||
| AI Agents | Not listed | |
| Code Generation | Not listed | |
| Enterprise Controls | Not listed | |
| Private Deployment | Not listed | |
| More features | ||
| API and CLI | Not listed | |
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | Not listed | |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
| Shared Hosting | Not listed | |
Cline vs Portkey cost by team size
Cline and Portkey cost the same at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Cline | Portkey |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeOpen Source | FreeOpen Source |
| 5 users | FreeOpen Source | FreeOpen Source |
| 10 users | FreeOpen Source | FreeOpen Source |
| 25 users | FreeOpen Source | FreeOpen Source |
| 50 users | FreeOpen Source | FreeOpen Source |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Who Cline and Portkey suit
| Audience | Cline | Portkey |
|---|---|---|
| Developers | 10/10Cline is built as a coding agent that works inside developers' IDEs and terminals. | 9/10Setup takes a few lines of code with OpenAI-compatible SDKs, and there is a free tier and an open-source gateway. |
| Enterprise | 7/10The Enterprise plan adds SSO, SCIM, RBAC, audit logs and VPC deployment, and Cline names Samsung and SAP as users. | 8/10The Enterprise plan adds SSO, RBAC, VPC deployment, and HIPAA/SOC 2 support, and the product is now part of Palo Alto Networks' Prisma AIRS. |
| Startups | 8/10The extension is free and teams pay only for the tokens they use, with no seat fees. | 7/10A free tier and a $49 Production plan keep the entry cost low. |
| Freelancers | 8/10A solo developer can use it with their own API keys and no subscription. | Not rated |
| SaaS Companies | Not rated | 8/10Built for teams running production GenAI features across multiple LLM providers. |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Cline
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Portkey
- Higher Analytics score (9/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
Cline
Pros
- No markup on inference: teams pay providers directly with their own API keys or buy at cost through the Cline provider.
- Works with many model providers, including local models, so teams are not locked to one vendor.
- Plan and Act modes plus step-by-step approval give developers control over every file edit and command.
- Available as a VS Code extension, a JetBrains extension (Enterprise) and a CLI with headless CI/CD use.
- The Enterprise plan adds SSO, SCIM, RBAC, audit logs and VPC deployment.
Cons
- Pay-per-token billing is unpredictable, and users report bills of 50 to 200 USD a month for heavy use.
- Approving each step slows down large refactors and fast iteration.
- Enterprise pricing is not published.
- The free tier only offers community support.
Portkey
Pros
- Unified API covering more than 1,600 models, with automatic fallbacks, retries, and load balancing.
- Detailed logs and traces show the latency, cost, and retry path of each request.
- An open-source core and a free tier let developers try it before paying.
- Enterprise governance features include budgets, rate limits, RBAC, SSO, and audit logs, with VPC deployment available.
Cons
- Since the 2026 acquisition, paid plans route through Palo Alto Networks' Prisma AIRS, which brings uncertainty about future pricing and roadmap.
- You pay for the gateway on top of LLM provider costs, and provider billing stays separate.
- Below Enterprise, support is community-only, and the free plan keeps logs for just 3 days.
- It may be more platform than needed for small prototypes that want only a simple proxy.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Portkey scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 7.8/10 against 7.1/10 for Cline. The largest gap is in Analytics: 5/10 for Cline and 9/10 for Portkey.
Both are free for 10 users.
Yes, both Cline and Portkey have a free plan.
