Roo Code

Roo Code started as a fork of Cline and grew into its own VS Code extension. It reads your project, edits files, runs terminal commands and can drive a browser, all from a chat panel next to your code. You bring your own API key, so it works with Claude, GPT, Gemini or a local model.

Its main idea is modes. You can switch between an architect that plans, a coder that writes, and a debugger that chases errors, or define custom modes with their own prompts and tool permissions. People who like tight control over what the agent can touch tend to prefer it over a closed editor.

Because it is open source and model-agnostic, the cost is whatever your API provider charges. That can be cheap on small tasks and surprisingly high on long agent runs, so it helps to watch the token meter.