Continue vs Refact.ai
Two of the most-asked-about agents in the coding space. Here's how they actually stack up.
Continue
Open-source AI code assistant that lets you bring any model and configure everything
Free
Read full review →Refact.ai
Open-source AI coding assistant with self-hosted models, IDE plugins, and custom fine-tuning support
Free tier
Read full review →Side-by-side comparison
| Continue | Refact.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Tagline | Open-source AI code assistant that lets you bring any model and configure everything | Open-source AI coding assistant with self-hosted models, IDE plugins, and custom fine-tuning support |
| Pricing | Free | Free tier |
| Categories | coding, vscode-extension, jetbrains, open-source | coding, self-hosted |
| Made by | Continue | SmallCloud |
| Launched | 2023-08 | 2023-09 |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Linux, Windows |
| Status | active | active |
Continue highlights
- + Bring your own model from any provider or run locally via Ollama
- + Chat, edit, autocomplete, and agent modes in VS Code and JetBrains
- + JSON and YAML config files for full control over every behavior
- + Continue Hub for sharing and discovering assistant configurations
- + Custom slash commands and context providers for any workflow
Refact.ai highlights
- + Self-hosted deployment on your own GPU infrastructure
- + Fine-tuning on your own codebase for domain-adapted completions
- + VS Code and JetBrains IDE plugins
- + Code completion, chat, and function-level explanations
- + Privacy mode with all inference on-premise
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Continue or Refact.ai?
Neither is universally better. Continue (Free) leans into coding, while Refact.ai (Free tier) is closer to coding. Pick based on which workflow you actually do every day.
What is the price difference between Continue and Refact.ai?
Continue is free. Refact.ai is free tier. See the pricing row in the comparison table.
Can I use Continue and Refact.ai together?
In most cases, yes. They serve overlapping but distinct needs, so running them side by side is common until you decide which fits your workflow.