Continue Review 2026: The Open-Source AI Coding Assistant That Works With Any Model

Continue is an open-source AI coding assistant that runs as an extension inside VS Code and JetBrains IDEs instead of asking you to switch editors. Its defining idea is simple: you keep your editor, your shortcuts, and your workflow, and you plug in whichever AI model you want — from OpenAI or Anthropic to a local model running on your own machine via Ollama. For developers who care about flexibility and transparency, that model-agnostic approach is the whole pitch.

Key features

Continue installs directly into VS Code or JetBrains as an extension, so there is no new IDE to learn. It offers the three core assistant interactions: a chat panel for asking questions about your code, an inline edit mode that rewrites selected code from natural-language instructions, and autocomplete suggestions as you type.

What separates Continue from closed-source assistants is its provider layer. Per the project’s documentation, you point Continue at OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, a local Ollama server, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, and you can even assign different models to different tasks — for example, a stronger model for chat and a faster, cheaper one for autocomplete. Configuration lives in a plain file you control, and a background service indexes your repository so the assistant can pull in relevant files as context automatically.

Continue also offers a hub where developers can create and share pre-built assistants and reusable configuration blocks — with contributed blocks from partners including Mistral and Anthropic’s Claude models.

Who it’s for

Continue fits developers who want an AI assistant but refuse to be locked into one company’s models and infrastructure. If your team already standardizes on VS Code or JetBrains and has no interest in migrating to a new AI-first IDE, Continue’s extension-based approach is a natural fit. It is also well suited to privacy-sensitive work: because you choose the provider, you can route everything through a local model running on your own hardware and keep code fully offline.

Developers who enjoy customizing context sources, prompt templates, and model routing through a configuration file will find Continue more adaptable than assistants with fixed behavior.

What to watch out for

The flip side of flexibility is setup effort. Continue is not a sign-up-and-go product the way some commercial assistants are: you need your own API keys or a local model runtime like Ollama before the assistant does anything, and you will spend some time in the configuration file to get behavior tuned to your liking. Developers who want a polished, zero-config experience may find that initial ramp slower.

Cost is another consideration that surprises some users. The extension itself is free and open source, but the models are not free — API usage is billed by your chosen provider, and those costs scale with how heavily you use the assistant. Also, because Continue connects to many providers, the quality of the experience depends heavily on which model you point it at.

Pricing

Continue is free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license. There is no charge for the extension itself, and the project’s published materials describe a free-forever tier that works with your own API keys or local models. A Team plan is listed at $10 per user per month for collaborative features. Model usage is billed separately by whichever provider you connect, so check your provider’s current rates alongside Continue’s own pricing.

Pros

• Fully open source (Apache 2.0) — the codebase is publicly inspectable and self-hostable
• Works with any model provider, including local LLMs via Ollama for fully offline use
• Runs inside VS Code and JetBrains — no need to abandon your existing editor
• Per-task model routing lets you mix a strong chat model with a cheaper autocomplete model
• Configuration file gives fine-grained control over context, prompts, and behavior
• Hub for creating and sharing custom AI coding assistants and reusable blocks
• Free forever for individuals using their own API keys or local models

Cons

• Requires your own API keys or a local model runtime — not a turnkey sign-up product
• API costs billed by your provider can add up with heavy usage
• Initial setup and configuration take more effort than closed-source alternatives
• Assistant quality depends on the model you choose; results vary across providers
• Less hand-holding and polished onboarding than commercial competitors

Frequently asked questions

Is Continue really free?

The Continue extension itself is free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license, and it stays free when used with your own API keys or local models. You do pay your model provider (such as OpenAI or Anthropic) for API usage, and a Team plan at $10 per user per month covers collaborative features. Check current pricing on continue.dev.

Does Continue work with local models?

Yes. One of Continue’s headline capabilities is connecting to local models through tools like Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, which lets you run the assistant entirely on your own machine — useful when code cannot leave your infrastructure.

Which editors does Continue support?

Continue is available as an extension for VS Code and as a plugin for JetBrains IDEs. Because it is extension-based, you keep your existing editor, shortcuts, keybindings, and other extensions.

How is Continue different from GitHub Copilot?

The main difference is vendor lock-in. Copilot ties you to a specific provider’s models and infrastructure, while Continue lets you choose any provider — including local models — and customize behavior through a configuration file. Copilot is a commercial subscription; Continue’s extension is open source and free, with model costs billed by your chosen provider.

Can teams share Continue configurations?

Yes. Continue’s hub is designed for creating, publishing, and sharing custom AI coding assistants and configuration blocks, so a team can standardize on the same models, prompts, and context sources.