Blackbox AI and Continue, fact by fact
| Fact | Blackbox AI | Continue |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | not tracked for Blackbox AI | 36,154Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Newest commit | not tracked for Blackbox AI | 21 Jul 202679 days old when we read itVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Contributors | not tracked for Blackbox AI | 393Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| License | not tracked for Blackbox AI | Apache-2.0Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Latest stable release | not tracked for Blackbox AI | v2.0.0-vscodepublished 19 Jun 2026Verified 8 Oct 2026 |
| npm downloads | not tracked for Blackbox AI | 5,292 a week@continuedev/cliVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| VS Code installs | not tracked for Blackbox AI | 4,297,289Continue.continueVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
| Repository | not tracked for Blackbox AI | continuedev/continueTypeScriptVerified 8 Oct 2026 |
What our catalogue holds
These are curated rows, not readings. We state no difference between the two columns because we have not checked either of them.
| Catalogue field | Blackbox AI | Continue |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI Assistant | AI Assistant |
| Where it runs | Web-Based | IDE Plugin |
| Pricing string, uncheckedWrong on 43 of our 190 rows. Not a price of ours. | Freemium | Open Source |
| Vendor page | blackbox.ai | github.com |
What we know about Continue
Continue has stopped: its own README marks the repository read-only for all users after a final 2.0.0 release of the VS Code extension, the CLI and the JetBrains plugin.
“> _Note: The `continuedev/continue` repository is no longer actively maintained and is read-only for all users._”
Read a complete Apache-2.0 implementation of an IDE coding agent: the VS Code extension, the CLI and the JetBrains plugin are all in one tree.
“Continue is a coding agent available as a [CLI](#cli), [VS Code extension](#vs-code), and [JetBrains plugin](#jetbrains).”
Run an editor agent that phones nobody: the final release removed anonymous telemetry and pulled out authentication.
“This included removing anonymous telemetry, pulling out authentication, squashing bugs, and more.”
No fix will ever land: the repository is read-only, so any bug you hit is a bug you carry or fork.
“> _Note: The `continuedev/continue` repository is no longer actively maintained and is read-only for all users._”
A known crash ships with it: copy and paste failing and the VS Code extension host crashing on `.sh` files is open with 77 comments and can no longer be fixed upstream.
“Intermittent Copy/Paste Not Working and Extension Host Crashes in VSCode [specifically for `.sh` files]”
The JetBrains plugin is deprecated by its own authors, who point users at the CLI instead.
“> _Note: We recommend using the Continue CLI instead of the JetBrains plugin._”
Anyone who needs a maintained editor agent should pick Qwen Code, which ships VS Code, Zed and JetBrains integrations and shipped a release this month.
“| **IDE** | — | [VS Code](https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en/users/integration-vscode/), [Zed](https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en/users/integration-zed/), [JetBrains](https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en/users/integration-jetbrains/) |”
What Continue costs
Continue costs nothing and no longer sells anything: the final release pulled authentication out of the product.
“This included removing anonymous telemetry, pulling out authentication, squashing bugs, and more.”
What this page does not answer
We have researched Continue and we have not researched Blackbox AI. That means the judgments above answer for one tool and not for the other, and we publish no price for Blackbox AI because we have not read its pricing page. Nothing on this page about Blackbox AI is our opinion; there is not enough evidence yet for one.
Questions people ask
- Are Blackbox AI and Continue still maintained?
- Blackbox AI has no repository we track. Continue is finished, not slowing: the repository is read-only, the last release is v2.1.0-vscode on 2026-06-19, and the newest commit on the default branch is 2026-07-21. Both readings come from the default branch of each repository, on the date shown beside them.
- What does Continue cost?
- Blackbox AI: we have not read its pricing page, so we publish no price for it. Continue: Continue costs nothing and no longer sells anything: the final release pulled authentication out of the product. Every figure here is quoted from the vendor's own page and linked beside the claim.
- Is Blackbox AI or Continue open source?
- We have not read a licence for Blackbox AI. Continue's repository continuedev/continue reports the Apache-2.0 licence. We read the licence GitHub reports for the repository, which is not the same question as whether the hosted product is free.
How we check this page
- Machine facts. Stars, contributors, the newest commit on the default branch, the licence GitHub reports and the latest stable release come from the GitHub API, and download counts from npm, PyPI, Homebrew and the VS Code Marketplace. Each value carries the day it was last confirmed, never the day this page was built. The line under each label is arithmetic on those two values.
- Judgments. Every claim about what a tool suits, what it is bad at and what it costs is quoted from a page we read, and that page is linked beside the claim. Where there is no link, we wrote no claim.
- Index status. Continue carries claims we read, quoted and linked; Blackbox AI does not. So this page is offered to search engines.
Related comparisons
Pairs we can answer for come first.
