Continue
BUY ITby continuedev
Last verified September 11, 2026
Continue is a free, open-source AI coding agent for VS Code and JetBrains that works with any model, including local ones. With 35,869 GitHub stars and a high fork count relative to stars, it has real evidence of developers actively customizing it, not just trying it once.
Continue describes itself as an "open-source coding agent" you can customize and run with any model — including fully local/private setups.
As of 2026-09-11, the GitHub repo has 35,869 stars, 5,360 forks, and 955 open issues, with a commit within the last day. Its original "Show HN" launch post reached 298 points and 103 comments; a later post about its local tab-autocomplete feature reached 53 points and 3 comments — a strong initial launch reception that cooled for follow-up features, which is a normal pattern for dev tools, not a red flag by itself.
A large, active GitHub community and a genuinely strong initial HN launch back up the "open-source coding agent" pitch. The fork-to-star ratio here is notably high, which usually means people are actually customizing it, not just bookmarking it — a good adoption signal for a tool whose whole pitch is customizability.
Is Continue free?
Yes, Continue is open source and free to use. You bring your own model API key, or run a local model for free.
Can Continue run fully offline?
Yes — it supports local models, which its own launch posts specifically highlight as a feature.