Aider

🛠️DIY Choice

AI pair programming in terminal

Founded 2023Website

Overview

Aider is a revolutionary open-source AI pair programming tool designed for developers who prefer working in the terminal. It brings the power of large language models directly into your command-line environment, enabling you to collaborate with Claude, GPT-4, DeepSeek, or any LLM via natural language conversations. The tool automatically creates a comprehensive map of your codebase to understand context, then makes coordinated edits across multiple files simultaneously, eliminating the tedious manual work of applying AI suggestions piece by piece.

What sets Aider apart is its seamless git integration and remarkable intelligence about code changes. It doesn't just suggest modifications—it actively commits your changes with meaningful commit messages, making version control effortless and maintaining a clean project history. The tool supports over 30 programming languages and can work with both cloud-based APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) and fully local models through Ollama, giving developers complete flexibility and privacy control.

For solo developers and freelance engineers, Aider combines powerful capabilities with zero licensing costs. You get advanced features like automatic linting and testing, voice input support, image and webpage context injection, and full control over which LLM provider you use. Whether you're building new projects from scratch, refactoring large codebases, adding complex features, or debugging production issues, Aider functions as your intelligent coding partner without the premium tool subscription costs.

The platform's terminal-first approach appeals to developers who value efficiency and customization. There's no vendor lock-in, no proprietary IDE extensions required, and the transparent open-source codebase means you can audit, customize, and extend the tool to fit your exact workflow. Combined with its strong community support and active development, Aider represents the ideal solution for independent developers seeking AI-assisted coding with complete control and transparency.

Pricing

Free

Aider (Open Source)

Free

Terminal-based pair programming
Multi-file code editing
Git integration with auto-commits
Support for 30+ languages
+2 more features

LLM API Usage

$Pay-as-you-go/mo

Everything in Open Source
OpenAI (Claude, GPT-4)
Anthropic Claude API
Google Gemini API
+2 more features

Local/Self-Hosted

Free

Everything in Open Source
Ollama integration (free)
Complete privacy and control
No API costs
+1 more features

Aider itself is completely free and open source. Users pay for LLM API access based on their usage (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.). Can also be used with free/self-hosted local models via Ollama or similar tools.

Best for: Software developers, Full-stack engineers, DevOps engineers, Open source contributors, Freelance developers, Startup teams, Solo entrepreneurs, Privacy-conscious developers, Terminal-first developers

The Good

Completely free and open source
Terminal-native with no IDE dependency
Can work with local models for complete privacy
Strong git integration for easy change management
Multi-file coordinated edits
No vendor lock-in
Can use any LLM provider
Active development community
Transparent codebase for customization
Excellent context awareness of entire codebase
Automatic commit messages

The Bad

Less user-friendly than GUI-based tools
Requires command-line comfort
Requires API keys for LLM usage (with costs)
Smaller ecosystem compared to Cursor or Copilot
Steeper learning curve for non-CLI developers
Requires git repository setup
Limited visualization compared to IDE integrations
Fewer integrations with third-party services

Best For

Software developers, Full-stack engineers, DevOps engineers, Open source contributors, Freelance developers, Startup teams, Solo entrepreneurs, Privacy-conscious developers, Terminal-first developers

Aider is completely free and open-source, making it perfect for solo developers who want to minimize costs while leveraging AI for coding assistance. Being terminal-native and supporting local models like Ollama gives you full control over your workflow without relying on proprietary platforms or paying for premium IDE features. You can pair with Claude or other LLMs directly, automate repetitive coding tasks across multiple files, and maintain complete privacy by running everything locally if needed.

Key Features

01Multi-file code editing with natural language commands
02Git integration with automatic commit messages
03Support for 30+ programming languages and multiple LLMs
04Terminal-native workflow with zero IDE dependency
05Voice-to-code and multimodal input (text, images, web pages)
06Works with local models (Ollama) for complete privacy

Integrations

OpenAI (GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo)Anthropic (Claude)DeepSeekGoogle (Gemini)Ollama (local models)AWS BedrockAzure OpenAIAny LLM with API supportVS CodeVim/NeovimJetBrains IDEsGitGitHub Actions