OpenAI Codex CLI vs Zed vs Aider

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

OpenAI Codex CLIopenai/codex

Zedzed-industries/zed

AiderAider-AI/aider

Cursorpaid product

Cost and coverage

Price

$0 software; you run it

Free plan with limited AI use; Plus $8/month, Premium $30/month, Super $100/month, Ultra $200/month; third-party models billed separately by usage source ↗

Code in an AI-first editor

Partly

Yes

Multi-line tab completion and next-edit prediction

Partly

Yes

Let an agent plan and edit across many files

Partly

Yes

Run terminal commands and tests from the agent

Partly

Yes

Ask questions about your whole codebase

Partly

Yes

Connect tools and data through MCP

Partly

Yes

Run agents in the cloud in the background

Yes

Jobs covered

3 of 7 jobs

6 of 7 jobs

3 of 7 jobs

All 7

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

130,321Top

92,013

49,688

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

892Top

453

—

Latest release

rust-v0.163.0 · 2026-10-15

v1.25.2 · 2026-10-21Top

v0.86.0 · 2025-08-09

—

Commits / 12 wk

3,490

1,417

—

People committing / 12 mo

377+

312+

12+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

7371 / 1498

413 / 484

107 / 75

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Yes, a command-line agent that runs on your computer; cloud models run on OpenAI's servers unless you use --oss

Yes, a desktop editor installed on your computer

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

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

Apache-2.0

GPL-3.0-or-later for most code, with some Apache-2.0 components (LICENSE-GPL and LICENSE-APACHE)

Apache-2.0

—

Model weights licence

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

Allowed under Apache-2.0

Allowed; GPL-3.0 is copyleft, so changes you distribute must stay GPL

Allowed under Apache-2.0

—

Paid services needed?Differs

Not required with local models (--oss with Ollama or LM Studio) or the limited ChatGPT Free plan; paid ChatGPT plans and OpenAI API keys are optional

Editor is free; AI works with your own API keys or local models (Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp); Zed Pro is optional for hosted models and Zed edit prediction

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

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

4 GB RAM minimum, 8 GB recommended; models run in OpenAI's cloud, so no GPU needed

64-bit OS; Windows needs a DirectX 11 GPU, Linux a Vulkan 1.3 driver, Macs from about 2015 on; local models need more

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

—

Operating systemsDiffers

macOS, Linux and Windows (native PowerShell with a Windows sandbox, or WSL2)

macOS (10.15+, Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows 10 1903+ and 11, Linux x86_64 and Arm64; no web version

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

—

Setup effortDiffers

Easy; one-line install script, npm or Homebrew, then sign in with ChatGPT

Easy; download installer, Homebrew, winget or a one-line Linux script, then add an API key or local model

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

—

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.

OpenAI Codex CLI vs Zed vs Aider (as alternatives to Cursor)
Figures from RepoQuarry, 22 Oct 2026. Sources: https://repoquarry.dev/compare?ids=codex-cli,zed,aider&product=cursor

Cursor: Free plan with limited AI use; Plus $8/month, Premium $30/month, Super $100/month, Ultra $200/month; third-party models billed separately by usage
OpenAI Codex CLI: free software; does 3 of 7 Cursor jobs
Zed: free software; does 6 of 7 Cursor jobs
Aider: free software; does 3 of 7 Cursor jobs

- OpenAI Codex CLI: 130,321 GitHub stars, 3,490 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0
- Zed: 92,013 GitHub stars, 1,417 commits in 12 weeks, licence GPL-3.0-or-later for most code, with some Apache-2.0 components (LICENSE-GPL and LICENSE-APACHE)
- Aider: 49,688 GitHub stars, 0 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: OpenAI Codex CLI Yes, a command-line agent that runs on your computer; cloud models run on OpenAI's servers unless you use --oss; Zed Yes, a desktop editor installed on your computer; Aider Yes, a command-line tool that runs in your project folder on your computer
- Code licence: OpenAI Codex CLI Apache-2.0; Zed GPL-3.0-or-later for most code, with some Apache-2.0 components (LICENSE-GPL and LICENSE-APACHE); Aider Apache-2.0
- Commercial use: OpenAI Codex CLI Allowed under Apache-2.0; Zed Allowed; GPL-3.0 is copyleft, so changes you distribute must stay GPL; Aider Allowed under Apache-2.0
- Paid services needed?: OpenAI Codex CLI Not required with local models (--oss with Ollama or LM Studio) or the limited ChatGPT Free plan; paid ChatGPT plans and OpenAI API keys are optional; Zed Editor is free; AI works with your own API keys or local models (Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp); Zed Pro is optional for hosted models and Zed edit prediction; Aider Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio); cloud model APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek and others) are optional
- Hardware: OpenAI Codex CLI 4 GB RAM minimum, 8 GB recommended; models run in OpenAI's cloud, so no GPU needed; Zed 64-bit OS; Windows needs a DirectX 11 GPU, Linux a Vulkan 1.3 driver, Macs from about 2015 on; local models need more; 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
- Operating systems: OpenAI Codex CLI macOS, Linux and Windows (native PowerShell with a Windows sandbox, or WSL2); Zed macOS (10.15+, Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows 10 1903+ and 11, Linux x86_64 and Arm64; no web version; Aider Windows, macOS and Linux, with one-line installers for each
- Setup effort: OpenAI Codex CLI Easy; one-line install script, npm or Homebrew, then sign in with ChatGPT; Zed Easy; download installer, Homebrew, winget or a one-line Linux script, then add an API key or local model; Aider Easy; one-line installer (or pip/uv/pipx), then add an API key or point it at a local model

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. openai/codex ↗zed-industries/zed ↗Aider-AI/aider ↗

OpenAI Codex CLI vs Zed vs Aider

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

Cookie preferences

Report a problem