Claude Code vs Continue
Which AI coding tool should you choose? Feature, pricing, and workflow comparison for 2026.
Quick Comparison
Claude Code
Anthropic's official CLI tool for coding with Claude. Terminal-based AI coding assistant.
| Pricing | API usage-based pricing |
| Type | CLI Tool |
Continue
Open-source AI code assistant for VS Code and JetBrains. Bring your own model.
| Pricing | Free open source, API usage-based |
| Type | Tool |
Key Differences
Claude Code is Anthropic's official terminal-based coding tool with direct Claude access. Continue offers a different approach.
Choose Claude Code if you want Anthropic's curated terminal experience. Choose Continue if you prefer a different coding workflow.
Best AI Models to Use with Claude Code and Continue
Both tools support multiple AI models. Here are the most cost-effective options ranked by value.
| # | Model | Provider | Input ($/M) | Medium Project | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | $0.037 | $0.04 | 1M tokens | |
| 2 | Gemini 1.5 Flash | $0.075 | $0.09 | 1M tokens | |
| 3 | Qwen Turbo | Qwen | $0.080 | $0.08 | 1M tokens |
| 4 | Gemini 2.0 Flash | $0.100 | $0.12 | 1M tokens | |
| 5 | Mistral Small 3 | Mistral | $0.100 | $0.10 | 32K tokens |
| 6 | Microsoft Phi-4 | Microsoft | $0.100 | $0.10 | 128K tokens |
| 7 | Gemma 3 27B | $0.100 | $0.12 | 128K tokens | |
| 8 | GPT-4o mini | OpenAI | $0.150 | $0.18 | 128K tokens |