Aider vs Cline vs goose

Side by side, as alternatives to Claude Code. Rows that differ are highlighted; the strongest value in a row is marked. Unknown means no source yet.

AiderAider-AI/aider

Clinecline/cline

gooseaaif-goose/goose

Claude Codepaid product

Cost and coverage

Price

$0 software; you run it

Included with Claude Pro ($20/month, or $17/month billed annually), Max (from $100/month), Team and Enterprise; not on the free plan source ↗

Edit code across a repo from the terminal with an AI agent

Partly

Yes

Run commands and tests

Partly

Yes

Use the agent inside VS Code or JetBrains

Partly

Yes

Connect tools and data through MCP

Partly

Yes

Write commits and pull requests

Partly

Yes

Run the agent headless in scripts or CI (GitHub Actions)

Partly

Yes

Jobs covered

4 of 6 jobs

6 of 6 jobs

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

49,688

70,739Top

55,514

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

209Top

139

—

Latest release

v0.86.0 · 2025-08-09

desktop-v0.0.48 · 2026-10-17Top

v1.55.0 · 2026-10-16

—

Commits / 12 wk

840

657

—

People committing / 12 mo

12+

67+

77+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

107 / 75

271 / 148

314 / 237

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Yes, a command-line tool that runs in your project folder on your computer

Yes, in your editor, terminal or desktop app; optional Cloud Agents run in Cline's hosted sandbox

Yes, desktop app and CLI run on your computer

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

Apache-2.0

Apache-2.0 for the repo; the JetBrains plugin is not open source

Apache-2.0

—

Model weights licence

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

Allowed under Apache-2.0

Yes, Apache-2.0 allows commercial use

—

Paid services needed?Differs

Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio); cloud model APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek and others) are optional

Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio) or your own keys; Cline Provider, ClinePass and Cloud Agents are optional

Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio, Docker Model Runner, Ramalama) or free tiers such as Groq; paid APIs are optional

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

No GPU or RAM figures documented; aider connects to cloud LLM APIs or local models, so hardware needs depend on the model you use

No figures for Cline itself; cloud models run via provider APIs; for local models the docs suggest 16-32 GB RAM for small/quantized models, 32-64 GB for mid-size coding models and 64 GB+ for larger ones

Native Rust desktop app and CLI; the LLM runs through the provider you configure (cloud API or local); no RAM, CPU or GPU figures documented

—

Operating systemsDiffers

Windows, macOS and Linux, with one-line installers for each

Desktop app for macOS and Windows (Windows in beta); the extension runs in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and JetBrains IDEs, and the CLI needs Node.js 20+; Linux is not named in the install docs

Desktop app and CLI for macOS, Linux and Windows; the Windows CLI runs natively in Git Bash, MSYS2 or PowerShell, or in WSL

—

Setup effortDiffers

Easy; one-line installer (or pip/uv/pipx), then add an API key or point it at a local model

Easy; install from the VS Code or JetBrains marketplace, or npm install -g cline, then add a provider key or local model

Easy; download the desktop app, or install the CLI with a one-line script or Homebrew, then pick a provider

—

Stars over time

Switch to Growth % to compare projects of different sizes fairly.

The chart appears after a few nightly checks.

Notes for a video or post

A plain summary with today's date and a link to the sources. Check each project page before you publish.

Aider vs Cline vs goose (as alternatives to Claude Code)
Figures from RepoQuarry, 22 Oct 2026. Sources: https://repoquarry.dev/compare?ids=aider,cline,goose&product=claude-code

Claude Code: Included with Claude Pro ($20/month, or $17/month billed annually), Max (from $100/month), Team and Enterprise; not on the free plan
Aider: free software; does 4 of 6 Claude Code jobs
Cline: free software; does 6 of 6 Claude Code jobs
goose: free software; does 6 of 6 Claude Code jobs

- Aider: 49,688 GitHub stars, 0 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0
- Cline: 70,739 GitHub stars, 840 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0 for the repo; the JetBrains plugin is not open source
- goose: 55,514 GitHub stars, 657 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: Aider Yes, a command-line tool that runs in your project folder on your computer; Cline Yes, in your editor, terminal or desktop app; optional Cloud Agents run in Cline's hosted sandbox; goose Yes, desktop app and CLI run on your computer
- Code licence: Aider Apache-2.0; Cline Apache-2.0 for the repo; the JetBrains plugin is not open source; goose Apache-2.0
- Commercial use: Aider Allowed under Apache-2.0; Cline Allowed under Apache-2.0; goose Yes, Apache-2.0 allows commercial use
- Paid services needed?: Aider Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio); cloud model APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek and others) are optional; Cline Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio) or your own keys; Cline Provider, ClinePass and Cloud Agents are optional; goose Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio, Docker Model Runner, Ramalama) or free tiers such as Groq; paid APIs are optional
- Hardware: Aider No GPU or RAM figures documented; aider connects to cloud LLM APIs or local models, so hardware needs depend on the model you use; Cline No figures for Cline itself; cloud models run via provider APIs; for local models the docs suggest 16-32 GB RAM for small/quantized models, 32-64 GB for mid-size coding models and 64 GB+ for larger ones; goose Native Rust desktop app and CLI; the LLM runs through the provider you configure (cloud API or local); no RAM, CPU or GPU figures documented
- Operating systems: Aider Windows, macOS and Linux, with one-line installers for each; Cline Desktop app for macOS and Windows (Windows in beta); the extension runs in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and JetBrains IDEs, and the CLI needs Node.js 20+; Linux is not named in the install docs; goose Desktop app and CLI for macOS, Linux and Windows; the Windows CLI runs natively in Git Bash, MSYS2 or PowerShell, or in WSL
- Setup effort: Aider Easy; one-line installer (or pip/uv/pipx), then add an API key or point it at a local model; Cline Easy; install from the VS Code or JetBrains marketplace, or npm install -g cline, then add a provider key or local model; goose Easy; download the desktop app, or install the CLI with a one-line script or Homebrew, then pick a provider

Stars show popularity, not quality. Check each project page before publishing.

Want share images and a ready video description? Open a project's creator kit.

Numbers: GitHub, fetched nightly. Facts: read from each project's own documentation, with the source on its page. How we check. Aider-AI/aider ↗cline/cline ↗aaif-goose/goose ↗

Aider vs Cline vs goose

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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