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Continue is an AI-powered code review platform that runs automated checks on every pull request to enforce engineerin...

Updated Jun 2026
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Free plan Self-hosted Teams

About Continue

Continue is an open-source AI coding assistant that integrates with editors like VS Code and JetBrains, offering Chat, Plan, and Agent modes plus the ability to build source-controlled custom AI agents. It connects to frontier models via a credit system and integrates with tools like Slack, Sentry, and Snyk. The company has recently been acquired by Cursor, so buyers should verify current pricing, hosting, and support details directly before adopting it.

Continue was an open-source AI coding assistant that brought AI agents directly into developer workflows across editors like VS Code and JetBrains, offering Chat, Plan, and Agent modes plus the ability to build source-controlled custom agents. It was known for transparency, model flexibility (connecting to frontier models of the user's choice), and integrations with tools like Slack, Sentry, and Snyk. Important status update: In June 2026, Continue was acquired by Cursor (the company behind the AI code editor) in what was reported as an acqui-hire. The hosted Continue product has been shut down — recurring billing was disabled, and existing users were given until July 15, 2026 to export their data before deletion. Co-founder Nate Sesti joined Cursor. The open-source codebase remains available to fork under its Apache 2.0 license, but Continue is no longer offered as a commercial, hosted product. (Note: Cursor itself is being acquired by SpaceX in a $60 billion all-stock deal.) If you're evaluating Continue today, see the alternatives below.

TL;DR

Continue was an open-source AI coding assistant for VS Code and JetBrains, offering Chat, Plan, and Agent modes and source-controlled custom agents with flexible model choice. Founded by Nate Sesti and Ty Dunn, it was acquired by Cursor in June 2026 in an acqui-hire and discontinued as a hosted product (data export ended July 15, 2026); the Apache 2.0 codebase remains forkable. It is no longer available to buy — developers wanting a similar tool should consider the alternatives listed below.

Company overview

Continue was founded by Nate Sesti and Ty Dunn, both with backgrounds in conversational AI and data infrastructure, with the mission of ensuring developers are amplified, not automated, by AI tooling. A Y Combinator alum, it grew into one of the most prominent open-source AI coding assistants — around 34,000 GitHub stars and a strong community that valued transparency and configurability.

In June 2026, Continue was acquired by Cursor (Anysphere) in a quiet acqui-hire, completed around the same time SpaceX agreed to acquire Cursor for $60 billion. The hosted product was discontinued: billing was disabled and users were given until July 15, 2026 to export their data. Continue's final 2.0.0 release removed telemetry and tidied the code as a handoff to the community, and the Apache 2.0 codebase remains publicly available to fork — but there is no longer an officially maintained, hosted Continue product.

Product features

Continue operates as an AI coding assistant inside development environments such as VS Code and JetBrains. It offers Chat, Plan, and Agent modes that let developers ask questions, plan multi-step changes, and have AI act on their codebase, with capabilities spanning code writing, refactoring, and explanation.

A defining feature is the ability to create and run custom AI agents that can be source-controlled and shared across a team, allowing organizations to encode their own engineering standards and reusable workflows. Continue connects to frontier AI models through a credit-based system and integrates with tools including Slack, Sentry, and Snyk to extend agents across the development lifecycle. Centralized management options have been available for teams needing to administer and share private agents.

Target market

Continue serves individual developers, software engineering teams, and larger enterprise organizations that want flexible, configurable AI tooling integrated into their existing editors. It is particularly well-suited to teams that prioritize open-source transparency, model flexibility, and the ability to standardize workflows through custom agents.

Buyer personas

End users

Software developers who write, refactor, and review code daily and want AI assistance inside their existing editors like VS Code and JetBrains.

Buyers

Engineering managers and platform leads who select developer tooling and weigh flexibility, model choice, and standardization across their teams.

Key influencers

Senior engineers and open-source advocates who champion transparent, configurable AI tooling and shape adoption within their organizations.

Ideal customer profile

A development team that values open-source AI tooling, works in VS Code or JetBrains, and wants to encode engineering standards through customizable, source-controlled agents while retaining flexible model choice.

Pros & cons

Pros

  • Enforces only the specific standards teams configure, avoiding unsolicited opinions and surprise bugs
  • Scales automatically with development velocity to check every PR regardless of team size or speed
  • Source-controlled AI checks allow teams to version and manage their quality standards alongside code
  • Open-source foundation (MIT license) with options to use free local models like Ollama at zero cost

Cons

  • Requires teams to define and configure their own checks rather than providing out-of-the-box standards
  • Pay-as-you-go token pricing can become unpredictable for high-volume usage without the Team plan's included credits

Pricing plans

Starter
$3 / per million tokens
  • Pay-as-you-go token pricing
  • Create and run AI agents
  • Integrations with Slack, Sentry, and Snyk
  • Access to frontier models
Team
$20 / month
  • Includes $10 in credits per seat
  • Manage and share private agents across team
  • Control which agents team can use
  • Gmail/GitHub SSO login
Company
Custom / month
  • Custom SSO with SAML or OIDC
  • Bring your own API keys (BYOK)
  • Commitment, invoicing, and SLA
  • All Team features included

Key features

Team collaboration
Self-hosted
Integrations
GitHub, Slack, Sentry, Snyk, VS Code, JetBrains
Input types
text, code
Output types
text, code

Compare key features

View all alternatives →
Feature
Continue
Tabnine
Windsurf
Pricing
Freemium
Freemium
Freemium
Free plan
Yes
Yes
Yes
Free trial
No
No
No
API
No
No
Yes
Self-hosted
Yes
Yes
Yes
Team support
Yes
Yes
Yes

Frequently asked questions

What will I actually pay to use Continue?+

Continue has offered a freemium structure with a free tier and paid plans, including a team option around $20 per seat per month that bundles credits, plus per-seat credit purchases for frontier models. Because pricing and plan availability may change following the Cursor acquisition, confirm current rates on the official site before subscribing.

How does Continue fit into my coding workflow?+

Continue runs inside your editor and offers Chat, Plan, and Agent modes, letting you ask questions, plan changes, and have AI agents act on your codebase. You can also build custom agents that automate recurring tasks and encode your team's engineering standards.

Which editors and environments does Continue support?+

Continue works as an extension for popular development environments including VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. Setup typically involves installing the extension and connecting your account and chosen models.

What models and integrations does Continue work with?+

Continue lets you connect to frontier AI models and purchase credits to run them, giving you flexibility in model choice. It also integrates with tools like Slack, Sentry, and Snyk to extend agents across your development workflow.

What happens to my data and subscription after the Cursor acquisition?+

Continue has announced it was acquired by Cursor, and the company has addressed questions about data, subscriptions, and the open-source codebase on its site. Because these details are in transition, review the official FAQs directly to confirm how your data and plan are handled.

Is Continue still open source?+

Continue built its reputation as a pioneering open-source coding agent, and its codebase was intended to serve as a foundation for the broader community. With the acquisition by Cursor, you should verify the current status and licensing of the open-source project on the official site.

Is Continue free?+

Continue offers a Starter plan with pay-as-you-go pricing at $3 per million tokens (input and output). The core Continue project is open-source under the MIT license, and you can use it at zero cost if you provide your own API keys or use free local models like Ollama.

What does Continue integrate with?+

According to the research, Continue connects with integrations including Slack, Sentry, and Snyk. The platform also supports various AI model providers through API keys, and the Team plan includes Gmail/GitHub SSO login options.

How does Continue compare to alternatives?+

Continue differentiates itself by focusing on enforcing specific team-defined standards rather than providing generic AI code review. While alternatives like other VS Code AI plugins offer broader code assistance, Continue emphasizes consistency and mechanical enforcement of rules teams explicitly configure, positioning itself as 'the opposite of generic AI review.'

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