How to Use Free AI Coding Models in Cline

Hunting for a coding assistant that does not ask for a card first? Cline lets you use several AI models for free, and you never have to enter payment details to start.

Signing up costs nothing, no credit card is required, and the models run inside the editor you already have open.

What You Need

• VS Code or Cursor installed on your machine.

Tutorial

1. Install Cline in VS Code or Cursor. Both editors are supported, so use whichever one you already work in.
2. Sign up for a free Cline account. No credit card is needed for this part.
3. Pick a model from the free list. DeepSeek v4.1 Flash and Gemini 3.8 Flash are the steadiest for everyday coding; the other options are MiMo v2.6 Flash, Qoder (Qwen 3.8 Flash) and CodeBuddy (DeepSeek v4.1 Flash).

Wrapping Up

You now have Cline running in your editor with a free model behind it, so you can write and test code without paying anything up front. Start with DeepSeek or Gemini, the two that hold up best day to day, and see how the free models fit the way you work.