Local LLM Setup for Coding in 2026: Ollama (178k Stars) + Continue + Cline - Private AI Pair Programmer

A complete private coding setup: Ollama (177,825 stars) runs the model, Continue (35,326) gives inline autocomplete, Cline (65,673) handles agent tasks - all local, all free, your code never leaves the machine.

💡 What You Will Learn

A complete private coding setup: Ollama (177,825 stars) runs the model, Continue (35,326) gives inline autocomplete, Cline (65,673) handles agent tasks - all local, all free, your code never leaves th

## The short answer The 2026 local coding stack is three tools: **Ollama** (177,825 stars) serves the model, **Continue** (35,326 stars) is the VS Code copilot for autocomplete and chat, and **Cline** (65,673 stars) runs as an autonomous agent for bigger tasks. Setup takes ~20 minutes and costs $0. ## Step 1 - Ollama ```bash curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:7b ollama serve # API on localhost:11434 ``` ## Step 2 - Continue (autocomplete + chat) 1. Install Continue from the VS Code marketplace. 2. In settings, add a provider: type "Ollama", model `qwen2.5-coder:7b`. 3. Tab-complete works immediately; highlight code and ask questions in chat. ## Step 3 - Cline (agent tasks) 1. Install Cline from the marketplace. 2. Set the API provider to Ollama, model `qwen2.5-coder:7b`. 3. Give it a task ("add tests for this module") - it plans, edits, runs, and iterates with your approval. ## Optimizing for coding | Setting | Recommendation | |:--------|:---------------| | Model | qwen2.5-coder:7b or 14b (if RAM allows) | | Context length | 8k-32k (set `num_ctx`) | | Temperature | 0.2-0.4 for code | | GPU offload | `OLLAMA_GPU_LAYERS=99` for full offload | ## Real numbers - 7B model + 16GB RAM: ~20-40 tokens/sec - responsive autocomplete. - The whole stack uses ~6-8GB RAM while running. - Compared to Copilot (~$10/month): $0, plus your code never leaves the machine. ## FAQ **Q: Is autocomplete as good as Copilot?** A: Close for common patterns; slightly behind on rare frameworks. The gap shrinks with each model release. **Q: Can I use it with other editors?** A: Yes - Continue supports VS Code, JetBrains and Neovim; Cline has VS Code and CLI versions. **Q: What about multiple projects?** A: Works fine - models are stateless; add project context via Continue's codebase indexing feature.