How to Use Continue in 2026: Step-by-Step Guide
Continue is an open-source AI code assistant that integrates directly into VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. It provides context-aware code completion, chat, and editing using any LLM — cloud or local — without telemetry or data collection.
Continue (continue.dev) is an open-source AI coding assistant released under the Apache 2.0 license. It installs as an extension in VS Code or JetBrains IDEs and provides three core capabilities: autocomplete (inline suggestions as you type), chat (contextual conversation about your code), and edit (apply AI changes directly to selected code).
What distinguishes Continue from proprietary alternatives like GitHub Copilot is its model flexibility and privacy model. Continue works with any LLM: Claude via API, GPT-4 via OpenAI API, Gemini, local models via Ollama (Llama, Mistral, CodeLlama), and dozens of others. Organizations can route code completions to a local model for privacy while using a cloud model for chat — or run everything locally with no external calls at all.
Context retrieval is a core engineering focus. Continue uses codebase indexing to find relevant files, functions, and documentation before constructing prompts. Users can explicitly add context with @file, @folder, @docs, @terminal, @codebase, and @web references. The assistant sees what the developer sees: the current file, recent edits, terminal output, and documentation.
The extension is actively maintained with over 10,000 GitHub stars and weekly releases. The project raised venture funding in 2024 to build enterprise features including team context sharing, usage analytics, and centralized model configuration for organizations.
For individual developers, Continue is entirely free with no usage limits beyond what the underlying LLM API charges. Enterprise pricing is available for team features.
The project is designed for developers who want AI assistance without the lock-in, data privacy tradeoffs, or model constraints of closed alternatives.
What You'll Need
- A Continue account (free to create)
- A modern web browser or the Continue app
- Payment method for paid features
Getting Started
Create Your Account
Visit https://www.continue.dev and sign up for a freemium account. You'll need an email address to register. A free tier is available — you can upgrade later for more features.
Start Your First Conversation
Once logged in, you'll see the main chat interface. Type a question or task in the input box and press Enter. Continue supports text, code-generation — start with a simple text prompt to get familiar.
Natural Language Chat
Type your question or task in natural language. Continue excels at understanding context and providing helpful, detailed responses.
Pro Tips
- Be specific: The more context you provide, the better the response. Instead of "write an email," try "write a professional follow-up email to a client who hasn't responded in two weeks."
- Iterate: If you don't get what you need, ask for clarification or refinement: "Make it shorter" or "Use a more formal tone."
- Use examples: Show Continue what format you want by including an example in your prompt.
- Save useful conversations: Most platforms let you name and revisit conversations — organize by project or topic.
Common Use Cases
Programming & Code
AI assistants focused on writing, debugging, and explaining code across programming languages.
Browse Programming & Code chatbots →Productivity
AI tools for task management, scheduling, summarization, and workflow optimization.
Browse Productivity chatbots →Troubleshooting
- Responses seem generic or unhelpful
- Add more context to your prompt. Specify the audience, tone, length, and format you need. Try starting over with a clearer description of your goal.
- The tool isn't responding or is slow
- AI chatbots can experience high traffic. Refresh the page and try again. Check the service's status page if issues persist.
- Output is too long or too short
- Explicitly specify the length: "in 100 words," "as a brief summary," or "in detail with examples."
Get Weekly Chatbot Tips
Not sure which AI tool is right for you? Our newsletter covers reviews, tutorials, and comparisons weekly.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Continue free to use?
- Continue has a free tier. Paid plans start from Free (open source); Enterprise pricing for team features.
- Do I need an account to use Continue?
- Yes, you need to create an account to use Continue.
- What can I use Continue for?
- Continue is an open-source AI code assistant that integrates directly into VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. It provides context-aware code completion, chat, and editing using any LLM — cloud or local — without telemetry or data collection.
Related Guides
Know a tool we're missing? Submit it free →