The emergence of Cursor provides a different AI code assistant experience. Unlike the code completion usage mode of GitHub Copilot, it understands context through dialogue with AI to provide code implementations.
However, the monthly price is quite high. After DeepSeek V3, combined with Cline, offers another possibility. We can use DeepSeek + Cline to create a simple alternative.
1. Register DeepSeek
Log in to https://www.deepseek.com/ and click to access the API:

Enter your phone number to log in.
After logging in, you can view your account information, with a default complimentary usage of 10 yuan:

2. Create API Key
Click on the API keys menu, go to the API keys page, and select the Create API key button to create a new key. This key will be used later.

3. Add Cline Plugin to VS Code
Open VS Code, enter ‘cline’ on the Extensions page, and select the Cline plugin to install:

You can also search and install it from the VS Code marketplace:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=saoudrizwan.claude-dev
4. Configure Cline

Click the Cline icon in the sidebar to enter the settings page and configure the following options:
API Provider select OpenAI Compatible
Base URL fill in https://api.deepseek.com
API Key fill in the key obtained in the previous step
Model ID fill in deepseek-coder
After filling in, click save. Then it can be used.
5. Example Usage
In the following example, I let it fetch data from a specified API interface and display it in a list format.

It first analyzed the requirements and then requested to install the axios library for API access:

After authorizing it to execute, it started generating code and displayed it through diff:

After reviewing, I found it acceptable, so I allowed it to proceed with the update:

After updating the code, it attempted to run dev to start a service to check the modifications. After allowing it to run, a development service started, and the current task showed completed:

Through this simple example, we found it quite easy to use. I wonder how it performs in larger projects?
6. Improvements
Due to the token consumption by Cline, it may lead to slower task execution. You can use Roo Cline instead of Cline. Let’s try replacing it with Roo Cline later.