Roo Code Review 2026: Open-Source Multi-Model AI Coding Agent for VS Code

Quick definition: Roo Code is a free, open-source VS Code extension that gives you an AI dev team inside your editor—supporting any LLM provider you want and letting you define specialized AI "modes" for different coding tasks.

One-minute highlights

• Fully open-source (Apache 2.0) with 22k+ stars on GitHub
• Bring any model: Claude, GPT, Gemini, Mistral, or local LLMs
• Custom Modes turn your AI into a security reviewer, test engineer, or whatever you need
• Agentic multi-file editing with explicit permission controls
• SOC 2 Type 2 compliant—your code isn't used for training

Jump to the specs? Visit the dedicated Roo Code tool page for feature lists, signup links, and related reads.

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Introduction to Roo Code

The AI coding extension space for VS Code has gotten crowded. GitHub Copilot set the baseline, Cursor built a full IDE around AI, and a wave of open-source alternatives have been fighting for developer attention. Roo Code sits in that open-source wave—but with a twist.

Roo Code forked from Cline (itself one of the most-installed AI coding extensions for VS Code) with a specific focus: reliability, customizability, and model flexibility. Rather than locking you into one AI provider, Roo Code lets you plug in whatever model makes sense for the task. Writing boilerplate? Use a fast, cheap model. Refactoring complex logic? Switch to Claude Sonnet or GPT-4o. Running on a plane? Use a local model through Ollama.

With 22,000+ GitHub stars and nearly 300 contributors, Roo Code has built meaningful traction. It's not a side project—the team behind it (Roo Code, Inc.) raised funding, achieved SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, and launched team-oriented cloud features. This is an open-source project with commercial ambition.

Core Features of Roo Code

Custom Modes

This is Roo Code's standout feature and the thing that separates it from most competitors. Custom Modes let you define specialized AI personas, each with:

• Tailored instructions: Tell the AI to act as a security auditor, a TypeScript migration assistant, or a documentation writer
• Scoped tool permissions: A docs-writing mode doesn't need terminal access. A test-writing mode doesn't need to edit production files
• Reusable configurations: Save modes and share them across projects or teams

Roo Code ships with five built-in modes—Code, Architect, Ask, Debug, and a Custom template—and there's a Mode Gallery where the community publishes pretested configurations for common workflows like backend scaffolding, CI/CD pipeline editing, or test generation.

The practical upside: modes keep the AI focused. Instead of a general-purpose assistant that might wander off-task, you get a scoped agent that knows its role and its boundaries.

Multi-Model Flexibility

Roo Code is model-agnostic by design. You bring your own API keys and pick the provider that fits your needs:

• OpenAI: GPT-4o, o1, o3-mini
• Anthropic: Claude Sonnet, Opus, Haiku
• Google: Gemini Pro, Flash
• Mistral: Codestral, Large
• Local models: Anything you can run through Ollama, LM Studio, or similar

You can switch models mid-session or assign different models to different modes. This matters for cost control—running a $0.002/token model for routine completions and reserving expensive models for complex refactoring can cut your monthly API bill significantly.

Agentic Multi-File Editing

Roo Code doesn't just autocomplete lines. It reads your codebase, understands file relationships, and makes coordinated edits across multiple files. Need to rename a component and update every import? Add a new API endpoint with route, controller, validation, and tests? Roo Code handles the full chain.

The agentic capabilities extend to:

• Running terminal commands (build, test, lint)
• Opening a browser to test changes visually
• Reading error output and iterating on fixes
• Creating new files and directories as needed

Permission-Based Control

Here's where Roo Code takes a different approach from some competitors: nothing happens without your say-so. Every file edit, every terminal command, every browser action requires approval unless you explicitly set up auto-approval rules.

This is a genuine trade-off. You get safety and control, but the approval overhead can slow down large tasks. Power users will want to configure auto-approval for trusted operations (like running tests) while keeping manual approval for destructive actions.

Roo Cloud and Roomote

The optional Roo Cloud layer adds team features on top of the open-source core:

• Synced sessions: Follow tasks from any device
• Task analytics: Lightweight tracking of what your AI agents are doing
• Roomote Control: Manage agents remotely—kick off a refactoring task from your phone while you're away from your desk
• Task sharing: Let teammates see and continue your AI sessions

This isn't required to use Roo Code. The core extension works entirely standalone with your own API keys. Cloud is for teams that want shared infrastructure.

Pricing, Plans and Hidden Costs

Free tier (the core extension)

The Roo Code VS Code extension is completely free and open-source under Apache 2.0. No subscription, no usage limits on the extension itself. You can install it, configure your API keys, and start coding immediately.

Roo Cloud plans

Plan	Monthly cost	What you get
Cloud Free	$0	Token usage tracking, task sharing, early access to free AI models, community support
Pro	$20 + $5/hr for cloud tasks	Cloud agents (PR Reviewer), Roomote Control, paid support
Team	$99 + $5/hr for cloud tasks	Unlimited team members (no per-seat fees), shared settings and rules, centralized billing

Hidden costs and gotchas

The real cost of Roo Code is your LLM API spend. With bring-your-own-key, you pay the model provider directly. This can range from negligible (a few dollars a month with cheap models and light use) to significant (heavy Claude Opus usage during an intense sprint could run $50-100+/week).

The $5/hour charge for cloud tasks on Pro and Team plans is worth noting—if you're running long background tasks through Roo Cloud, costs can add up. For most users, the free tier plus your own API keys is the sweet spot.

Pros and Cons

What we like

• True model freedom: No lock-in. Switch models per task, per mode, or per mood
• Custom Modes are genuinely useful: Scoped personas reduce hallucination and keep agents on-task
• Open-source transparency: Apache 2.0 means you can audit the code, fork it, or self-host
• SOC 2 Type 2 compliance: Rare for an open-source project. Your code isn't used for training
• Active community: 22k+ stars, 300 contributors, active Discord and Reddit
• No per-seat pricing on Team plan: $99/month flat for unlimited team members is competitive

What could be better

• Approval fatigue: The permission-based system is safe but can feel tedious for large tasks until you configure auto-approvals
• Cline fork baggage: Coming from a fork means some documentation and community discussion still references Cline, which can be confusing
• Cloud pricing adds up: The $5/hour cloud task rate can surprise you on longer jobs
• VS Code only: No support for JetBrains, Neovim, or other editors (though the open-source nature means someone could port it)
• Mode Gallery is young: The community mode library is growing but still thin compared to what you'd want

How Roo Code Compares

Roo Code vs Cursor

Cursor is a full IDE (a fork of VS Code itself), while Roo Code is an extension that lives inside your existing VS Code installation. That's the fundamental difference.

Cursor gives you a more polished, integrated experience—its AI features are baked into the editor from the ground up. The tab completion, inline editing, and Composer feature feel seamless because they control the entire editing surface.

Roo Code gives you more flexibility. You keep your existing VS Code setup (extensions, keybindings, themes) and add AI capabilities on top. Model choice is wider—Cursor supports multiple models too, but Roo Code's BYOK approach means you can use literally any provider, including local models.

Choose Cursor if you want the most polished AI coding experience and don't mind switching editors. Choose Roo Code if you want to stay in VS Code, need model flexibility, or care about open-source licensing.

Roo Code vs Cline

This is the comparison people ask about most, since Roo Code forked from Cline. Both are open-source VS Code extensions with agentic capabilities and multi-model support.

The divergence is in focus. Roo Code invested heavily in Custom Modes, team features (Roo Cloud), and enterprise compliance (SOC 2). Cline remains closer to the original vision: a powerful single-agent coding assistant with a simpler interface.

Cline has more total installs (5 million+), but Roo Code's GitHub stars and contributor count suggest strong developer engagement. If you want Custom Modes and team collaboration, Roo Code has the edge. If you want simplicity and the largest community, Cline is still solid.

For more options in this space, check the best AI coding tools roundup.

Who Should Use Roo Code

Best for

• Developers who refuse vendor lock-in: Open-source core, any model, your own API keys
• Teams with varied coding tasks: Custom Modes shine when you need different AI behaviors for different jobs
• Privacy-conscious developers: Local model support means your code never leaves your machine if you want
• Cost optimizers: Route cheap tasks to cheap models and expensive tasks to powerful models
• VS Code loyalists: Keep your entire setup and add AI on top

Not ideal for

• Developers wanting plug-and-play simplicity: The model configuration and mode setup has a learning curve
• JetBrains or Neovim users: VS Code only for now
• Teams that want everything included: You still need to manage your own API keys and model costs
• Beginners: The agentic features and mode system assume some development experience

Verdict

Roo Code occupies a specific and valuable niche: it's the most customizable open-source AI coding agent for VS Code. The Custom Modes system is genuinely differentiated—no other extension gives you this level of control over AI behavior, tool access, and persona definition.

The model-agnostic approach is a real advantage for developers who want to optimize for cost, quality, or privacy depending on the task. And the SOC 2 compliance plus Apache 2.0 licensing makes it one of the few open-source AI tools that enterprises can actually adopt without a lengthy security review.

The main drawbacks are the approval fatigue for power users (solvable with configuration), the VS Code-only limitation, and the fact that it's competing in a space where Cursor keeps raising the bar for what an integrated AI coding experience looks like.

If you're already in VS Code and want AI capabilities that you fully control—model choice, behavior scope, and data privacy—Roo Code is the strongest open-source option available right now.

Rating: 8/10

Try it

• Directory page: Roo Code on Vibe Coding
• Official website: roocode.com
• GitHub: github.com/RooCodeInc/Roo-Code
• VS Code Marketplace: Roo Code Extension
• Documentation: docs.roocode.com