Cline vs Kilo Code | agentconfig.ing

Cline vs Kilo CodeComparisonUpdated 2026-03-18

SUMMARY

Cline (IDE) uses markdown configuration while Kilo Code (IDE) uses markdown. They differ on 3 of 11 compared features. Both tools provide AI-assisted development but take different approaches to project configuration.

FEATURE COMPARISON

Feature	Cline	Kilo Code	Notes
Config format	markdown	markdown
Hierarchy support	✓	✗	Whether config files can be placed at multiple directory levels
Global config	✓	✗	User-wide configuration outside any project
Project config	✓	✓
Subdirectory scoping	✗	✗	Config files in subdirectories that apply only to that subtree
File inclusion / imports	✗	✗	Ability to include or reference other files from config
Ignore file	.clineignore	✗
IDE integration	✓	✓
Schema / structure	Free-form (Markdown)	Free-form (Markdown)	Whether config uses structured schema or free-form content
Git committed	✓	✓	Whether primary config files are intended to be version-controlled
Encoding	UTF-8	UTF-8

FILE MAPPING

Purpose	Cline	Kilo Code
Project rules	.clinerules/*.md	.kilorules

SIDE-BY-SIDE CODE SAMPLES

Cline

.clinerules/*.md

markdown

---
paths:
  - "src/components/**"
  - "*.tsx"
---

# React Component Conventions

- Use functional components with TypeScript interfaces for props
- Export components as named exports
- Use Tailwind CSS for all styling
- Keep components under 150 lines; extract sub-components when larger

Kilo Code

.kilorules

markdown

# Project Rules

## Stack
- TypeScript 5.x with strict mode
- React 19 + Next.js 15 (App Router)
- Tailwind CSS v4 for styling
- Drizzle ORM for database access

## Code Standards
- Named exports only (no default exports)
- Prefer `const` assertions and satisfies operator
- Use Result<T, E> pattern for error handling
- Maximum 30 lines per function

## File Organization
- Colocate tests: `foo.ts` → `foo.test.ts`
- One component per file
- Barrel exports (index.ts) for public module APIs

## Git
- Conventional commits: feat|fix|chore|docs|test
- Squash merge feature branches
- Branch naming: type/description

KEY DIFFERENCES

1. Hierarchy support

Cline: Supported. Kilo Code: Not supported.

2. Global config

Cline: Supported. Kilo Code: Not supported.

3. Ignore file

Cline: .clineignore. Kilo Code: Not supported.

WHICH SHOULD I USE?

Recommendation

Choose based on your IDE/CLI preference. If you use Cline, configure .clinerules/*.md. If you use Kilo Code, configure .kilocodemodes. Many projects include config files for multiple tools so each team member can use their preferred editor.

PORTABILITY TIP

sync-instructions.sh

bash

# Maintain a single source of truth:
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md CLAUDE.md
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md .cursorrules
cp AI-INSTRUCTIONS.md AGENTS.md