What is Continue?

Continue is an open-source AI coding assistant that plugs into VS Code or JetBrains IDEs. Unlike GitHub Copilot (locked to OpenAI) or Cursor (a full fork), Continue works as an extension and lets you connect any LLM — cloud or local.

Key Features

Inline autocomplete: Tab-to-accept suggestions as you type
Chat sidebar: Ask questions about your code or request edits in context
Edit mode: Highlight code → describe what to change → see a diff
Codebase context: Index your repo so the model understands your project structure
Custom commands: Define /refactor, /test, /explain shortcuts

Setup

# Install in VS Code
code --install-extension Continue.continue

Then configure ~/.continue/config.json to point to your preferred LLM:

{
  "models": [{
    "title": "Claude 3.5 Sonnet",
    "provider": "anthropic",
    "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
    "apiKey": "YOUR_KEY"
  }]
}

Pricing

Continue itself is completely free. You only pay for the API tokens consumed by the LLM you connect. With a local model (Ollama + CodeLlama), the cost is $0.

Best For

Developers who want Copilot-like features without vendor lock-in
Teams handling sensitive code who need local/private model support
Power users who want to fine-tune which model handles which task

Quick Start

Install the VS Code extension, then configure your LLM in ~/.continue/config.json. You can use a cloud model, a local Ollama instance, or both:

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "Claude 3.5 Sonnet",
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
      "apiKey": "sk-ant-..."
    },
    {
      "title": "Local Llama (Ollama)",
      "provider": "ollama",
      "model": "llama3.2"
    }
  ],
  "tabAutocompleteModel": {
    "title": "Qwen Coder (fast)",
    "provider": "ollama",
    "model": "qwen2.5-coder:3b"
  }
}

Use Cmd+I for inline edits, Cmd+L to open the chat sidebar, and Tab to accept completions. Use @file in chat to reference a specific file, @codebase to search across the indexed repo.

Use Cases

Privacy-sensitive codebases: For companies with strict data policies, Continue + Ollama is the only Copilot-style workflow that keeps all code on-premise. The extension sends nothing to Continue’s servers — only to whichever LLM endpoint you configure.

Cost optimization with model tiering: Configure a fast, cheap model (Qwen 2.5 Coder 3B on Ollama) for tab autocomplete, and a more capable cloud model (Claude Sonnet) for chat and complex edits. This keeps costs low for the high-volume completions while preserving quality for reasoning tasks.

JetBrains users: For IntelliJ, PyCharm, or GoLand developers who can’t switch to VS Code or Cursor, Continue is one of the few AI coding tools with real JetBrains support — giving them inline completions and chat in their existing IDE.

Custom slash commands for your team: Define project-specific commands in config.json — /pr-description, /api-docs, /migration — that run a custom prompt with your team’s standards baked in. This lets you standardize how AI assistance is used across the team.

Continue.dev — Open-Source AI Coding Assistant for VS Code & JetBrains

✅ Pros

⚠️ Cons