Continue.dev is a free, open source VS Code and JetBrains extension that gives you AI autocomplete, chat, and codebase search without paying a subscription. You connect it to any LLM — Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama, or dozens of others — and pay only for the API usage you generate. For developers who want Copilot-style features without the $10/month fee, Continue.dev is the most capable option available today.
What Continue.dev Is
Continue.dev is an IDE extension (VS Code and JetBrains) that adds three AI capabilities to your editor:
- Autocomplete — inline code completions as you type, similar to Copilot's ghost text
- Chat — a sidebar chat interface for asking questions, explaining code, and writing functions
- Codebase context — index your codebase so the AI understands your specific code, not just general programming patterns
The key distinction from Copilot: Continue.dev has no proprietary model. It is a client that connects to any LLM you configure. The quality of autocomplete and chat depends entirely on which model you pick.
Setup Guide
Step 1: Install the extension.
In VS Code, search for "Continue" in the Extensions panel and install it. For JetBrains, go to Plugins and search "Continue."
Step 2: Configure your LLM provider.
After installation, Continue opens a configuration file (~/.continue/config.json). Here is a working configuration for Anthropic Claude:
{
"models": [
{
"title": "Claude Sonnet",
"provider": "anthropic",
"model": "claude-sonnet-4-5",
"apiKey": "your-anthropic-api-key"
}
],
"tabAutocompleteModel": {
"title": "Codestral",
"provider": "mistral",
"model": "codestral-latest",
"apiKey": "your-mistral-api-key"
}
}
A practical setup uses a powerful model (Claude) for chat and a fast, cheap model (Codestral or a local Ollama model) for autocomplete. Autocomplete runs on every keystroke, so cost and latency matter more there than for chat.
Step 3: For local models (zero cost), use Ollama.
# Install Ollama
brew install ollama
# Pull a code model
ollama pull codestral
Then configure Continue to use Ollama:
{
"tabAutocompleteModel": {
"title": "Codestral Local",
"provider": "ollama",
"model": "codestral"
}
}
With a local Ollama model for autocomplete and a Claude API key for chat, your total cost is API usage only — roughly $0 to $5/month for moderate use.
Step 4: Index your codebase.
Open the Continue sidebar and click "Index codebase." Continue scans your project, creates embeddings, and makes your code searchable. After indexing, you can use @codebase in chat to ask questions that span your entire project.
How Autocomplete Quality Compares to Copilot
This is the honest part. Continue.dev's autocomplete with a strong model is competitive with Copilot on code you've been working on recently. When you have multiple related files open and a well-indexed codebase, Continue's suggestions are often highly relevant.
Where Copilot has a consistent edge: general programming patterns. Copilot is trained on a specific dataset and optimized for autocomplete in a way that Continue.dev is not. For boilerplate, common patterns, and code you haven't written before, Copilot's ghost text completions tend to be more accurate with fewer irrelevant suggestions.
Where Continue.dev can be equivalent or better: your own codebase. Once you've indexed your project and the AI has context about your specific architecture, naming conventions, and patterns, Continue can produce suggestions that feel very specific to your code rather than generic.
The gap is real but not dramatic. For a developer primarily working in their own codebase (not constantly writing code in unfamiliar territory), Continue's autocomplete with a good model is a workable Copilot replacement.
Codebase Context and Chat
The @codebase feature is where Continue.dev genuinely excels. In the chat sidebar, type @codebase how does authentication work in this project? and Continue searches the indexed codebase, finds the relevant files, and answers with actual references to your code.
You can also reference specific files directly:
@file src/auth/middleware.ts explain what this does
Or reference documentation:
@docs https://nextjs.org/docs explain the app router
The chat experience with Claude claude-3-5-sonnet is comparable to Copilot Chat with GPT-4. The quality of answers depends on the model, not on Continue itself.
Privacy Considerations
For teams with sensitive codebases, Continue with local Ollama models means your code never leaves your machine. No cloud API calls, no training data concerns, no vendor access to your code. This is a meaningful advantage for regulated industries or proprietary codebases.
Copilot, even with content exclusions, still sends code to GitHub's servers. Continue with Ollama does not.
Pricing
Continue.dev itself is free and open source (Apache 2.0). What you pay:
- Using Ollama (local models): $0
- Using Anthropic Claude API: roughly $0 to $5/month at moderate development usage
- Using OpenAI API: similar cost range
- Using Mistral Codestral for autocomplete: Mistral has a free tier for Codestral specifically
Total realistic cost for a developer using Continue with a mix of local Ollama (autocomplete) and Claude API (chat): $1 to $3/month.
Who Should Use Continue.dev
Developers who want Copilot features without the subscription. If $10/month is a meaningful constraint (especially for hobbyist or open source projects), Continue.dev is the best free alternative.
Privacy-conscious teams and individuals. Local model support with Ollama provides genuine privacy guarantees that subscription tools cannot.
Developers who want to experiment with models. Continue makes it easy to try different LLMs and find the combination that works best for your specific workflow.
JetBrains users who don't want Copilot. The JetBrains plugin is a real option alongside Copilot for developers on IntelliJ, WebStorm, or PyCharm.
Who Should Stay on Copilot
Enterprise teams needing compliance. Continue.dev has no enterprise compliance story: no SOC 2, no audit logs, no IP indemnification. If those matter, Copilot Business or Enterprise is the right choice.
Developers who want the best possible autocomplete with no configuration. Copilot works out of the box with a well-tuned model. Continue requires setup and model selection. For developers who want zero configuration, the setup overhead is a real cost.
Keep Reading
- GitHub Copilot Honest Review 2026 — Full breakdown of what Copilot does and doesn't do well
- Aider AI Coding Guide — Open source terminal-based alternative with git integration
- Open Source Alternatives to GitHub Copilot — Full comparison of free AI coding tools
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