goose vs Aider vs OpenHands

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.

gooseaaif-goose/goose

AiderAider-AI/aider

OpenHandsOpenHands/OpenHands

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

6 of 6 jobs

4 of 6 jobs

6 of 6 jobs

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

55,514

49,688

91,499Top

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

139

345Top

—

Latest release

v1.55.0 · 2026-10-16

v0.86.0 · 2025-08-09

v1.30.0 · 2026-10-22Top

—

Commits / 12 wk

657

740

—

People committing / 12 mo

77+

12+

54+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

314 / 237

107 / 75

464 / 367

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Yes, desktop app and CLI run on your computer

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

Yes; Agent Canvas and the agent server run on your machine by default, or on your own Docker host, VM or Kubernetes cluster

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

Apache-2.0

MIT

—

Model weights licence

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

Yes, Apache-2.0 allows commercial use

Allowed under Apache-2.0

Yes, MIT allows commercial use

—

Paid services needed?Differs

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

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

Not required with local models (LM Studio, Ollama, vLLM, SGLang); cloud model APIs and OpenHands Cloud are optional

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

No hardware requirements documented in the README or install docs (checked 2026-10-21)

Not documented; the installer only needs Python

No requirements given for Agent Canvas itself; the recommended local model needs a 24GB GPU or an Apple Silicon Mac with 64GB memory

—

Operating systemsDiffers

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

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

macOS, Linux and Windows (PowerShell or WSL2); the CLI and per-conversation Docker sandboxes need WSL on Windows

—

Setup effortDiffers

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

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

Medium; install Node.js 24 and uv then the npm package, or run the Docker image, then add a 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.

goose vs Aider vs OpenHands (as alternatives to Claude Code)
Figures from RepoQuarry, 22 Oct 2026. Sources: https://repoquarry.dev/compare?ids=goose,aider,openhands&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
goose: free software; does 6 of 6 Claude Code jobs
Aider: free software; does 4 of 6 Claude Code jobs
OpenHands: free software; does 6 of 6 Claude Code jobs

- goose: 55,514 GitHub stars, 657 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0
- Aider: 49,688 GitHub stars, 0 commits in 12 weeks, licence Apache-2.0
- OpenHands: 91,499 GitHub stars, 740 commits in 12 weeks, licence MIT

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: goose Yes, desktop app and CLI run on your computer; Aider Yes, a command-line tool that runs in your project folder on your computer; OpenHands Yes; Agent Canvas and the agent server run on your machine by default, or on your own Docker host, VM or Kubernetes cluster
- Code licence: goose Apache-2.0; Aider Apache-2.0; OpenHands MIT
- Commercial use: goose Yes, Apache-2.0 allows commercial use; Aider Allowed under Apache-2.0; OpenHands Yes, MIT allows commercial use
- Paid services needed?: goose Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio, Docker Model Runner, Ramalama) or free tiers such as Groq; paid APIs are optional; Aider Not required with local models (Ollama, LM Studio); cloud model APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek and others) are optional; OpenHands Not required with local models (LM Studio, Ollama, vLLM, SGLang); cloud model APIs and OpenHands Cloud are optional
- Hardware: goose No hardware requirements documented in the README or install docs (checked 2026-10-21); Aider Not documented; the installer only needs Python; OpenHands No requirements given for Agent Canvas itself; the recommended local model needs a 24GB GPU or an Apple Silicon Mac with 64GB memory
- Operating systems: goose Desktop app and CLI for macOS, Linux and Windows; the Windows CLI runs natively in Git Bash, MSYS2 or PowerShell, or in WSL; Aider Windows, macOS and Linux, with one-line installers for each; OpenHands macOS, Linux and Windows (PowerShell or WSL2); the CLI and per-conversation Docker sandboxes need WSL on Windows
- Setup effort: goose Easy; download the desktop app, or install the CLI with a one-line script or Homebrew, then pick a provider; Aider Easy; one-line installer (or pip/uv/pipx), then add an API key or point it at a local model; OpenHands Medium; install Node.js 24 and uv then the npm package, or run the Docker image, then add a 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. aaif-goose/goose ↗Aider-AI/aider ↗OpenHands/OpenHands ↗

goose vs Aider vs OpenHands

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

Cookie preferences

Report a problem