Continue Dev Alternative: Kilo Code comparison
Continue joined Cursor and is no longer actively maintained. Kilo Code is the actively maintained, open-source coding agent that keeps your terminal workflow moving — with 500+ models, BYOK, local models, and the same agent across IDE and cloud.
Quick Comparison
Kilo CLI vs Continue at a glance
Continue’s final clients and Apache-2.0 source remain available, but the product is no longer maintained. Kilo keeps the open, model-flexible workflow you liked and adds active support.
| Area | Kilo CLI | Continue |
|---|---|---|
| Product status | Actively maintained Continue joined Cursor; its repository is read-only for users with no active maintenance. | Discontinued |
| Security fixes | Current fixes and releases Unmaintained clients carry future editor, dependency, and security risk. | No active maintenance |
| Surfaces | CLI, VS Code, JetBrains, cloud | Final VS Code, JetBrains, and CLI releases |
| Models | 500+ hosted models, BYOK, local Continue offers clear model-role config; Kilo adds a maintained hosted catalog. | Configurable providers and per-role models |
| Local / offline | Supported (Ollama, LM Studio, BYOK) | Supported in final releases |
| Open source | MIT-licensed, actively maintained | Apache-2.0, unmaintained |
| Team controls | Billing, analytics, roles, SSO/SCIM, audit logs | No current maintained control plane |
Best for:
Continue
- You want to keep running Continue’s final, preserved Apache-2.0 clients as-is
- Per-role model assignment (chat, edit, apply, autocomplete, embeddings) is central to your setup
- You rely on Continue’s local YAML configuration and are comfortable maintaining an internal fork
Kilo CLI
- You want an actively maintained agent with ongoing features and security fixes
- You want broad model choice — 500+ hosted models, BYOK, and local models
- You need the same agent across CLI, VS Code, JetBrains, and cloud
- You want team governance: billing, analytics, roles, SSO/SCIM, and audit logs
- You require SOC 2 compliance for enterprise environments
Why developers move from Continue to Kilo CLI
Actively maintained, not archived
Continue’s repository says it is no longer actively maintained after joining Cursor. Kilo ships ongoing features and security fixes, so you are not building on a frozen codebase.
Broad, current model access
Kilo gives you 500+ hosted models with zero token markup, full BYOK, and local models. Continue’s model catalog and provider integrations no longer receive active updates.
One agent across every surface
Use the same Kilo agent in the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, and Cloud Agents with shared sessions. Continue’s clients are preserved but static.
Maintained team and enterprise controls
Kilo Teams and Enterprise add centralized billing, analytics, RBAC, SSO/SCIM, audit logs, and SOC 2 compliance. Continue has no confirmed current team or enterprise service.
What you get with Kilo CLI
Kilo CLI is an actively maintained, MIT-licensed open-source coding agent with current feature work and security fixes.
Kilo gives you 500+ hosted models with zero markup, plus full BYOK and local model support (Ollama, LM Studio) for offline work.
Kilo works across the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, and Cloud Agents, with sessions that carry context between surfaces.
Kilo supports Agent, Plan, Code, Debug, and Ask modes plus custom workflows, inline autocomplete, MCP, rules, and agent files.
Kilo Teams and Enterprise add centralized billing, usage analytics, role-based access, SSO/SCIM, audit logs, and SOC 2 compliance.
Migration
Move from Continue in three steps
Preserve your Continue configuration and validate your workflow in Kilo before compatibility drifts on unmaintained clients.
Archive your Continue configuration
Inventory ~/.continue/config.yaml, project .continue files, .continueignore, rules, prompts, MCP definitions, and agent files. Move any credentials into secrets before migrating.
Map your model roles to Kilo
Choose Kilo models for agent, planning, editing, and autocomplete work instead of copying provider names — pick capabilities that match each workflow.
Validate scripts and clients
Test CLI/CI jobs, JetBrains workflows, and offline requirements in Kilo before retiring Continue’s final binaries.
Get started in seconds
Install Kilo CLI with a single command.
Or use pnpm, yarn, or bun. See documentation for more options.
Sources checked
Continue details on this page were checked against official Continue pages, including its acquisition notice and repository maintenance status. Kilo details use this site's shared product constants and repository links.
Keep your open, model-flexible workflow — with active support
Start in the terminal, keep using your editor, and add managed model access or team controls only when you need them.