PortBayvsCline
ClineCline is a heavyweight: an open-source agent runtime that runs in your terminal, drives many model providers (including local models via Ollama), and orchestrates parallel agents on a Kanban board, each isolated in its own git worktree, with agent teams and dependency chaining. PortBay takes a different role — it doesn't run its own model; it dispatches the agent CLIs you already use from a card, and its real edge is the environment around that card: a live database, trusted HTTPS on a real domain, email capture and a public tunnel.
Which one is right for you
You want the full stack, open source.
You want to dispatch the agent CLIs you already run (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and eight more) from a native app, and you want the agent working inside a real environment — a running database, HTTPS on a .test domain, a tunnel to demo — that's also your everyday local dev tool.
It already fits your workflow.
You want a provider-agnostic agent runtime with local-model support (Ollama), agent teams with coordinators and specialists, per-card git worktrees, dependency chaining, and cross-platform support on Windows and Linux. Cline is a deeper orchestration engine; PortBay deliberately leans on your existing agents instead of running its own.
Where PortBay and Cline actually differ
The table below has the row-by-row detail. These are the three shapes it cannot draw: the job you already use one of them for, the job only one of them does, and what survives the move.
PortBay and Cline overlap on the everyday job: a local site on a real domain, over HTTPS, with the services it needs. If that is all you need, either will do it.
Claude Code
Codex
CursorMove a card to To Do and PortBay launches Claude Code, Codex or Cursor against a project that is already running. Cline has no board to dispatch from.
Point PortBay at the folders you already have. They stay where they are, .test domains are re-issued on the first run, and databases are imported rather than rebuilt.
Feature by feature
Cline rows come from Cline’s own site and docs, on the date below. PortBay rows come from the app’s source. We mark partial support honestly — including where the other side wins.
Cline facts on this page were last checked against cline.bot/pricing on . Pricing and limits change — check their site before you decide.
Coming from Cline
Cline and PortBay solve different layers, and pair well. Cline is the agent runtime — keep it for agent teams and provider-agnostic model routing. PortBay is the environment and the board: add your project, press play to get a database and HTTPS, and dispatch any of its 11 supported agent CLIs from a card so the agent builds against a running app. You can even point your Cline-driven workflow at the services PortBay provisions.
Install PortBay and add your project folder.
Press play — PortBay provisions the runtime, database and HTTPS for it.
Dispatch your agent from a card; it works against the live app PortBay is running.
PortBay vs Cline, in plain terms
Don’t see your question answered here? The docs go deeper — every feature, flag and failure mode.
Read the docsPartly. They overlap on the Kanban board that dispatches coding agents, but Cline is a full agent runtime (it drives the model, supports local models via Ollama, and runs agent teams), while PortBay dispatches the agent CLIs you already use. PortBay's distinct value is the environment around the card — a running database, HTTPS, email capture and tunnels — plus being your everyday local dev tool.
Both do. PortBay installs and supervises a local Ollama server, and Ollama is one of the agents you can assign to a card — PortBay's built-in agent then works the card on-device. It also uses local models for Speech-to-Text rewrites and the optional SSH host assistant. The difference is reach: Cline drives any OpenAI-compatible endpoint directly, so if you route to a self-hosted or third-party inference server, Cline covers more ground.
PortBay runs the environment the agent builds against: managed PHP/Node runtimes, a per-project MySQL or PostgreSQL database, trusted HTTPS on a real .test domain, Mailpit email capture and a one-click public tunnel — all in a native macOS app that's also your local dev environment. Cline orchestrates agents and git worktrees but doesn't provision the runtime, database or server.
Cline runs on macOS, Windows and Linux (Node 22+). PortBay ships a signed, notarized macOS build for Apple Silicon and Intel (macOS 11+) and a Linux x86_64 build (AppImage, deb and rpm). There is no Windows build yet. So Linux is covered by both; if you need Windows, Cline is the option.
Choose Cline for a provider-agnostic agent runtime with local models, agent teams and cross-platform parallel worktrees. Choose PortBay when you want to dispatch your existing agents from a native Mac board and have them work inside a real running environment — database, HTTPS and tunnels included.
Give your projects and your agents a real local home.
Download for macOSFree & open source · macOS 11+ on Apple Silicon · Pro from $10/mo