Aider vs Claude Code
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.
Also replaces Claude Code: + OpenCode+ OpenAI Codex CLI+ Gemini CLI+ Zed+ OpenHands+ Cline
AiderAider-AI/aider
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
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Run commands and tests
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Use the agent inside VS Code or JetBrains
No: No
Confirmed: Yes
Connect tools and data through MCP
No: No
Confirmed: Yes
Write commits and pull requests
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Run the agent headless in scripts or CI (GitHub Actions)
Partial: Partly
Confirmed: Yes
Jobs covered
4 of 6 jobs
All 6
Popularity and activity (from GitHub)
Stars
49,688
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Gain this week
Unknown
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Signal
Building history
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Commits / 4 wk
0
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Latest release
v0.86.0 · 2025-08-09
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Commits / 12 wk
0
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People committing / 12 mo
12+
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Issues opened / closed, 30 days
107 / 75
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Facts, with sources on each project page
Runs on my machine?
Confirmed: Yes, a command-line tool that runs in your project folder on your computer
Hosted by the vendor
Code licence
Confirmed: Apache-2.0
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Model weights licence
Confirmed: No separate model weights
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Commercial use
Confirmed: Allowed under Apache-2.0
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Paid services needed?
Partial: Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio); cloud model APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek and others) are optional
Subscription
Hardware
Unknown: Not documented; the installer only needs Python
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Operating systems
Confirmed: Windows, macOS and Linux, with one-line installers for each
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Setup effort
Confirmed: Easy; one-line installer (or pip/uv/pipx), then add an API key or point it at a local model
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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.
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 ↗