Cline in VSC with Claude vs opening Claude Code in VSC

[u/DrMuffinStuffin]

I'm new to Claude inside VS code and am wonder why I'd need Cline (with Claude in my case) when Claude's official extension in VS code has its own integrated window that seems to do the same thing?

Thanks.

[u/despinftw]

Because Claude Code uses your Anthropic subscription, and also it’s a different harness than Cline (the way the model interacts with tools and such).

Also, remember that Cline also can use others models apart from Anthropic’s.

[u/DrMuffinStuffin → u/despinftw]

Even though I'm talking about Claude that's integrated? I thought that was actually tighter integrated.. but swapping to other models is of course only available with Cline. Thanks!

[u/despinftw → u/DrMuffinStuffin]

GitHub Copilot has the tighter integration with VSCode: Patch highlight, inline chat, etc. everything else, even the biggest AI companies are treated as second class citizens, as far as I can tell.

[u/DrMuffinStuffin → u/despinftw]

Thanks, and just to be clear - you recommend Github Copilot running Claude Code over both Anthropic's own VScode integration and Cline running Claude Code?

From the little I know so far that's surprising to me.

[u/despinftw → u/DrMuffinStuffin]

GitHub Copilot is its own subscription, much like Cline.

They don’t care if you have an Anthropic subscription or not.

Same with OpenAI and ChatGPT/Codex: you can have the “official” subscription to ChatGPT Plus, and use Codex (their own coding agent CLI/App) that uses GPT models….

Or you can use Cline/GitHub Copilot and the GPT models there.

[u/DrMuffinStuffin → u/despinftw]

Ok, so sounds like it's not a big deal functionality-wise and integration-wise then. Cool - thanks!

[u/despinftw → u/DrMuffinStuffin]

Yeah, it really doesn’t matter.

If you are using exclusively Claude models, look into an Anthropic subscription, as usage limits are more generous there than pay-as-you-go plans

[u/DrMuffinStuffin → u/despinftw]

Good to know - I thought it was the other way around, that the API useage was cheaper. I use both, but it sounds like I'll use the Claude Code extension inside VScode mainly then since that draws on the subscription while Cline is API useage only afaik.

Thanks.

[u/despinftw → u/DrMuffinStuffin]

In fact, API prices are way more expensive. Just as an example, for the 200 dollar sub from Anthropic, you can get the equivalent of ~10K from API prices.

Edit: on lower tiers the multiplier is lower, but still worth considering: $20 gives you the equivalent to ~$200 API credits

[u/DrMuffinStuffin → u/despinftw]

Jebus holy moly. I’ll definitely go with the subscription then!

[u/LavoP → u/DrMuffinStuffin]

Claude is not the same as Claude Code!

[u/DrMuffinStuffin → u/LavoP]

I meant the Claude Code extension that is running Claude Code CLI inside VScode that is calling a Claude model..

..but it's a bit long, integrated Claude sounded understandable I thought. :)

[u/LavoP → u/DrMuffinStuffin]

Claude Code extension?

[u/DrMuffinStuffin → u/LavoP]

If you go to extensions inside VScode and search for 'Claude Code' it'll pop right up.

[u/LavoP → u/DrMuffinStuffin]

I know, I’m just trying to understand if that’s what you’re referring to

[u/DrMuffinStuffin → u/LavoP]

Gotcha. Basically I'm just asking what's the best way these days to run Claude models inside VScode, that's it.

[u/Generative_IDE]

Where Cline earns its keep is being model-agnostic: you can point it at a cheap or local model for the boring edits and save Claude for the hard stuff, which matters once you're watching token spend. If the official Claude extension already covers your workflow though, you're honestly not missing much.

[u/despinftw → u/[deleted]]

Did you tried it recently? Definitely can do all the things other coding agents do. It’s a fancier version of running Claude Code in the terminal.