Aider
AI pair programming in your terminal - works with GPT-4, Claude, and local models
25K+
GitHub Stars
72%
Polyglot Score
Free
Open Source
Overview
Aider is an open-source AI pair programmer that runs in your terminal and lets you pair program with LLMs to edit code in your local git repository. Unlike proprietary tools, Aider works with your choice of AI model—GPT-4, Claude, DeepSeek, or local models via Ollama. It automatically commits changes to git, supports multi-file editing, and maintains its own code editing benchmarks that have become an industry standard for comparing LLM coding capabilities. Created by Paul Gauthier, Aider pioneered many techniques now used across AI coding tools.
The Verdict
Who Should Use Aider?
Best For
- Developers who want model flexibility
- Teams on a budget (bring your own API key)
- Open-source contributors
- Those who prefer terminal workflows
- Users with privacy concerns (local models)
Not Ideal For
- Beginners unfamiliar with CLI
- Those wanting a polished GUI
- Teams needing enterprise support
- Projects requiring compliance certs
What's Great
- 100% free and open source (Apache 2.0)
- Works with any LLM provider
- Automatic git commits with sensible messages
- Multi-file editing across codebase
- Pioneered industry-standard benchmarks
- Active community and regular updates
- Local model support via Ollama
- Voice coding mode available
Watch Out For
- Terminal-only (no GUI option)
- API costs can add up with heavy use
- Learning curve for configuration
- No built-in team collaboration
- Requires API key management
Pricing
Open Source
Free
Full features, bring your own API key
+ OpenAI API
~$0.01-0.06/1K tokens
GPT-4o, GPT-4-turbo models
+ Anthropic API
~$0.003-0.015/1K tokens
Claude Opus, Sonnet, Haiku
+ Local Models
$0
Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp
View all features & details
Key Features
- Multi-file code editing
- Automatic git commits
- Repository mapping
- Voice coding mode
- Image/vision support
- Linting integration
- Test running
- Undo/redo changes
Supported Models
- GPT-4o, GPT-4-turbo, GPT-4
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Opus, Haiku
- DeepSeek Coder V2
- Gemini Pro, Gemini Ultra
- Llama 3, Mixtral (via Ollama)
- Any OpenAI-compatible API
Edit Formats
- Whole file (simple, reliable)
- Diff format (token-efficient)
- Search/replace blocks
- Unified diff patches
Installation
- pip install aider-chat
- pipx install aider-chat
- Homebrew: brew install aider
- Docker image available
Benchmarks
How It Compares
| Feature | Aider | Claude Code | Cursor | Cline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free + API | $20-200/mo | $20/mo | Free + API |
| Model Choice | Any LLM | Claude only | Multiple | Any LLM |
| Local Models | Yes (Ollama) | No | No | Yes |
| Interface | Terminal | Terminal | IDE | IDE |
| Git Integration | Auto-commits | Yes | Limited | Manual |
| Open Source | Yes (Apache 2.0) | No | No | Yes |
| Enterprise Support | Community | Yes | Yes | No |
| Best For | Budget + flexibility | Large codebases | IDE users | VS Code fans |
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