Kilo Code

OSS AI coding assistant for planning, building & fixing code

5.0•39 reviews•

3.7K followers

OSS AI coding assistant for planning, building & fixing code

5.0•39 reviews•

3.7K followers

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AI Coding Agents

Build, ship, and iterate faster with the most popular Open Source Coding Agent. #1 on OpenRouter. 1M+ Kilo Coders. 20T+ tokens processed. Follow us: kilo.ai/social

Kilo Code Reviews

The community submitted 39 reviews to tell us what they like about Kilo Code, what Kilo Code can do better, and more.

5.0

Based on 39 reviews

Review Kilo Code?

Kilo Code earns strong praise for speed, flexibility, and transparent, BYOK model support across VS Code and JetBrains. Reviewers highlight a clear multi‑mode workflow (Architect, Code, Debug, Orchestrator) that plans first, then implements and fixes with visible diffs and solid context handling. Many say it replaced tools like Cursor, Cline, and Continue, citing fewer retries and better control over rules, memory, and cost. Beginners and pros report meaningful productivity gains, though a few note occasional loops and a perception of higher cost. Community support and rapid updates stand out.

+36

Summarized with AI

Pros

developer experience (34)

AI assistant (31)

high-quality output (15)

cost-effective (14)

reliable performance (14)

customization options (13)

easy to use (12)

workflow automation (8)

easy integration (7)

fast performance (7)

Pros

Cons

Reviews

Most Informative

Founder Reviews (2)

Other Reviews (37)

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•4 reviews

What's great

developer experience (34)

What stood out to me is the developer experience — it feels fast to get value without a bunch of setup friction.

Clear, focused UX that stays out of the way while coding
Helpful suggestions for refactors and “what’s the next step” moments
Customization is there when you need it, but the defaults are sensible
Output quality is consistently usable (less time fighting the assistant)

Overall, it’s the kind of tool you can keep open all day and trust as a teammate.

What needs improvement

Two areas I’d love to see improved:

Pricing / cost clarity: a simple, transparent breakdown (what drives cost, typical ranges, and a few real examples) would make it easier to recommend to teams.
Integration & onboarding: more “copy-paste” quickstarts (CLI + common editors), stronger docs for edge cases, and a few ready-made templates for common workflows would reduce the learning curve.

Did the MCP marketplace integrations add real day-to-day value?

Yes — but only once you curate a small set of MCPs you actually use. When the right tools are one click away (docs/search, tickets, repo utilities, etc.), it reduces context switching and keeps the workflow inside the agent loop.

The main risk is “tool sprawl”: too many options can add noise. A favorites/pins flow + per-project recommended MCP packs would make the marketplace even more practical.

How detailed and useful are cost and usage analytics?

Useful for staying honest about spend — I like having a clear view of usage over time and what’s driving it.

What would make it even better (especially for teams) is deeper attribution: cost per session/task/PR, breakdown by model + tools, plus budgets/alerts and an export (CSV) for reporting. That level of detail is what turns “analytics” into real cost control.

How does it compare to Roo or Cline in practice?

In practice it feels closest to the “agentic editor” workflow you get with Cline/Roo: plan → make file edits → run/iterate.

Where Kilo Code stands out for me is day-to-day ergonomics: it feels lighter-weight, faster to get started, and the UX stays out of the way during quick iterations. Roo/Cline still tend to win if you want maximum configurability and more knobs for edge cases.

Net: Kilo Code is great for consistent, repeatable “edit + test + iterate” loops; I’d reach for the others when I need deeper customization.

Ratings

Ease of use

Reliability

Value for money

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257 views1mo ago

•1 review

As a complete beginner in coding—but with a lifelong passion for programming—Kilo Code has been a game-changer for me. Working as an accountant, I used it to build two practical tools: one for expense management and another for warehouse tracking, both tailored to my company’s needs. My manager was so impressed that I received a formal recognition and bonus! Thank you, Kilo Code, for empowering non-developers like me to create real, impactful software. I’m your biggest supporter—keep up the amazing work!

What's great

easy to use (12)AI assistant (31)cost-effective (14)high-quality output (15)

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178 views4mo ago

•1 review

Kilo code provides what lacks in Chatgpt, perplexity, web interfaces. It allows to do agentic coding with context. It understands my style of writing code and develops accordingly. It blends into the workflow so easily. Also with diff i can easily understand what it has changed. Moreover it can test it's own code, install libraries, generate test samples. I just need to write a good prompt. it takes care of the rest. finally, it charges only what api providers charge. very nice product. this is the future of AI coding

What's great

easy integration (7)AI assistant (31)cost-effective (14)customization options (13)developer experience (34)workflow automation (8)context aware (6)high-quality output (15)

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46 views4mo ago

•2 reviews

I've been using Kilo Code since June 2025 - it is in my top list for Agentic AI Coding tools for the following reasons: - Does a great job coding! - Great set of modes for development including: Architect, Code, Ask, Debug and Orchestrate - Directly supports Open Router connection - a central HUB for LLM models (including open-source/free/stealth models) - Offer tons of opportunities for free credits and awesome value deals on credits - Responsive staff Easy integration into the IDEs I use (VS Code and Cursor) Great product team @fmerian @Kilo Code , keep it up!!

What's great

free tier (3)easy integration (7)AI assistant (31)cost-effective (14)developer experience (34)responsive support (3)high-quality output (15)

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127 views5mo ago

•1 review

Kilo Code Extension is totally awesome and opened a new whole universe of coding with agent mode for me. I code in python for Machine learning projects. Great alternative to Github Copilot Agent mode. Seamless Integration: Easy to install and use within Visual Studio Code/Jet Brains , with an intuitive user interface. Powerful Agent Mode: Leverages multiple LLMs to generate high-quality Python code, reducing debugging time. Contextual Understanding: Generates code that fits seamlessly into your existing projects, understanding the context of your codebase. Customizable Prompts: Allows fine-tuning of prompts and parameters for tailored code generation. Fast and Reliable: Handles large projects efficiently with quick code generation and minimal lag.

What's great

easy to use (12)fast performance (7)easy integration (7)AI assistant (31)customization options (13)developer experience (34)context aware (6)reliable performance (14)high-quality output (15)

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51 views4mo ago

•2 reviews

I’ve been using Kilo Code since April, and it’s become indispensable. The team runs frequent, generous promotions with high credit allowances—I’ve pushed over 200 million tokens without friction. There are often excellent free models available, and they perform surprisingly well for planning, coding, and debugging. On VS Code, this is the best AI coding extension by far—it blends the strengths of Cline and Roo Code with better UX and reliability. I’m also excited to keep exploring it on JetBrains and expect it to become my default there too. Outstanding work; please keep the momentum!

What's great

free tier (3)AI assistant (31)cost-effective (14)developer experience (34)frequent updates (3)reliable performance (14)high-quality output (15)

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43 views5mo ago

•3 reviews

I use AI coding assistants for support with game development tasks as a solo game developer for most of past decade who recently adopted some AI tooling. Kilo Code is a brilliant coding assistant, works great for both VSCode (and forks of it) and Jetbrains IDEs. Very well rounded feature-set access to a bunch of different providers etc, My biggest complaint about Kilo Code is no ability to use it within Zed, I hope that happens soon, even if mostly as a provider to spend my credits to start with! But for the IDEs it works in, especially the JetBrains ones it has very little competition. For best value from it be sure to experiment with a bunch of different model configurations, the most expensive ones aren't often the best for most tasks. Alternatives I look at and sometimes use for dev work without using Kilo Code: Zed, GitHub Copilot, Openrouter, Bezi.

What's great

easy integration (7)AI assistant (31)cost-effective (14)customization options (13)developer experience (34)reliable performance (14)

What needs improvement

easy integration (1)

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44 views5mo ago

•1 review

Kilo code is THE most amazing AI assist coding solution out there. I was using Windsurf and others and they were novel, fun for some things but overall AI tools just never worked their way into my daily coding life, finding Kilo Code though has changed the way I think about things and the way I work with code and JetBrain's is making it better too. Recently thanks to a member of the awesome Kilo Code Discord sever I switched from VS code to Rider to take advantage of Rider MCP server and better Unity C# support.

What's great

AI assistant (31)developer experience (34)community support (2)

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46 views5mo ago

•2 reviews

Kilo Code has become my go-to AI coding assistant. Unlike other tools, it gives me real control: rules, modes, and memory banks make it possible to align the model with how I actually work. I can keep context clean, tune responses per mode, and manage cost with precision. The VS Code extension is stable and efficient, giving me visibility into tokens and ensuring I know exactly what’s being sent. This makes it easier to optimize prompts, enforce standards, and prevent token waste. Kilo Code stands out because it’s not just about generating code—it’s about governing how code is created. For developers who want structure instead of noise, this is the product that delivers.

What's great

AI assistant (31)cost-effective (14)customization options (13)developer experience (34)context aware (6)reliable performance (14)high-quality output (15)

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34 views5mo ago

•1 review

Kilocode is a practical tool that has quickly proven useful in my workflow. The setup process was smooth, and I was able to get started without spending much time on configuration. The interface is simple, clear, and doesn’t get in the way, which makes it easy to pick up. What I’ve appreciated most so far is how Kilocode handles the routine parts of coding tasks. It doesn’t try to do everything, but the features it offers are solid and save me time on repetitive work. I also like that it fits neatly into my existing setup rather than forcing me to change how I work. Performance has been consistent, and I haven’t run into bugs or slowdowns. The overall experience feels reliable and thought-through, which gives me confidence in using it more day to day.

What's great

easy to use (12)fast performance (7)easy integration (7)AI assistant (31)developer experience (34)workflow automation (8)reliable performance (14)

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34 views4mo ago