Continue vs ReadMe: Which Is Better in 2026?

Continue is an open-source AI code assistant for VS Code and JetBrains that brings customizable, model-flexible AI help right into the editors developers already use. Rather than locking you into one closed platform, Continue lets you configure exactly which models you want to use — including your own keys and even local models — giving you control, flexibility and freedom from vendor lock-in while you get AI completion, chat and assistance inside your normal workflow.

Its strengths are openness and configurability. As an open-source project, it is transparent, community-driven and free, and its flexibility around models means you can tune it to your preferences, budget and privacy needs. It works across popular IDEs, so teams using different editors can share a consistent AI-assisted experience. For developers who want modern AI coding help without committing to a single proprietary editor or model provider, Continue offers a powerful, adaptable middle ground that respects how they already work.

Continue is ideal for developers and teams who value open source, want to choose and control their AI models, and prefer adding AI to their existing VS Code or JetBrains setup rather than switching editors. It sits alongside tools like Cline and Aider in the open-source AI-coding ecosystem, and is a flexible alternative to closed AI editors like Cursor. If you want customizable, open, model-agnostic AI assistance integrated into the IDE you already love, Continue is a standout choice that keeps you in control of both your workflow and your AI.

ReadMe is a platform for creating beautiful, interactive API documentation and developer hubs that make APIs easier to learn, try and adopt. For any company offering an API, documentation is the front door for developers — and great docs can dramatically improve adoption while poor docs drive developers away. ReadMe helps companies build polished, dynamic documentation that goes beyond static reference material, with interactive features that let developers actually try the API and personalized experiences that meet them where they are.

The platform lets you create developer hubs that combine API reference documentation, guides and tutorials in an attractive, well-organized site. A standout feature is interactivity: developers can make real API calls directly from the documentation, experiment with endpoints, and see responses, which makes learning and integrating the API far easier than reading static docs alone. ReadMe also offers personalization and analytics — showing developers relevant information and even their own API keys and usage, and giving the API provider insight into how developers use the docs and where they get stuck — turning documentation into a living, improvable part of the developer experience.

ReadMe is used by companies — from startups to large organizations — that offer APIs and want their documentation to drive adoption and provide a great developer experience. By making it easy to build interactive, beautiful, personalized developer hubs and by providing insight into how developers engage with them, it helps API providers reduce friction, support their users, and grow their developer ecosystems. As APIs become central to how software connects and companies grow through developer adoption, the quality of API documentation is a real competitive factor. For companies that want to create interactive, polished API documentation and developer hubs that help developers succeed with their API, ReadMe offers a powerful, well-regarded and genuinely effective solution.