Aider review

Q: How do I install Aider?

Run python -m pip install aider-install. The aider-chat package needs Python 3.10 or newer, below 3.13. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

Aider is an open-source command-line tool for AI pair programming in your terminal, working with cloud and local LLMs on your codebase.

Updated Nov 1, 2026. Review written Oct 22, 2026 from the project's own sources; usage data refreshed every Monday.

TL;DR

Aider is a terminal tool that lets you pair program with LLMs to start a new project or build on an existing codebase. Aider is for developers who work in git repositories and the command line. Aider maps your whole codebase, commits each change to git automatically, and can connect to almost any LLM, including local models.

49.9kGitHub stars
+167new stars, week of Oct 25
70.3kdownloads a week, +13% vs 4-week avg
#76in Coding agents this week

Aider at a glance

Category: Coding agents
Maintained by: Aider AI (organization, @Aider-AI on GitHub)
License: Apache 2.0
Language: Python, CSS, Shell
Repository: github.com/Aider-AI/aider
Website: aider.chat
PyPI package: aider-chat 0.86.2
Latest release: aider-chat 0.86.2 on PyPI, Feb 12, 2026
First published: May 9, 2023

What Aider does

Aider edits code in your project based on chat requests to an LLM, for new projects or existing codebases.
Aider builds a map of your entire codebase to help it work in larger projects.
Aider automatically commits its changes to git with descriptive commit messages, so you can diff, manage and undo them with git tools.
Aider runs your linters and tests after each change and can fix problems they detect.
Aider accepts images and web pages in the chat as visual context, screenshots or reference docs.
Aider takes voice requests for new features, test cases or bug fixes and implements the changes.
Aider can work with an LLM through its web chat interface by streamlining copy and paste with a browser.

How it works

Aider runs as a command-line program from inside your project directory. You pick a model with --model and pass a provider key with --api-key, for example for DeepSeek, Anthropic or OpenAI. Aider can also connect to local models and OpenRouter. You can trigger changes from your IDE or editor by adding comments to your code. Aider commits its edits to your git repository.

How to install and start using Aider

With pip (installer)

python -m pip install aider-install

Run the installer

aider-install

Requirements

Python 3.10, 3.11 or 3.12 (the aider-chat package requires >=3.10 and <3.13).
An API key for an LLM provider such as DeepSeek, Anthropic or OpenAI, unless you use a local model or web chat.

First steps

Install Aider with pip, then run aider-install.
Change directory into your codebase with cd /to/your/project.
Start Aider with a model and key, for example aider --model sonnet --api-key anthropic=<key>.
Ask for changes in the chat, then review Aider's commits with your usual git tools.

Who Aider is for

Developers who prefer working in the terminal and want AI edits committed to git.
Developers working on larger existing codebases who benefit from a repository map.
Developers who want to choose their own LLM provider or run local models.
Teams that want AI changes checked by their existing linters and test suites.

Limitations to know

Aider requires Python below 3.13; newer Python versions are outside the package's stated range.
Aider works best with LLM APIs; the web chat mode relies on copying and pasting with a browser.
Aider names specific models it works best with, so results with other models may vary.

Is Aider growing? Usage data

In the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, Aider ranked #218 on the Devtoolwatch Board and #76 in Coding agents, with a momentum score of 42 out of 100. Its main package had 70.3k downloads that week, +13% against its own 4-week average.

New GitHub stars per week for the last 12 weeks, from GitHub's stargazer history (today's stargazers by the week they starred).

Show the weekly numbers

New GitHub stars per week for Aider
Week of	New stars
Aug 9, 2026	222
Aug 16, 2026	182
Aug 23, 2026	215
Aug 30, 2026	216
Sep 6, 2026	169
Sep 13, 2026	187
Sep 20, 2026	166
Sep 27, 2026	175
Oct 4, 2026	129
Oct 11, 2026	187
Oct 18, 2026	175
Oct 25, 2026	167

On Hacker News

Claude 3 beats GPT-4 on Aider's code editing benchmark, 202 points and 228 comments (Mar 27, 2024)
GPT-4 Turbo with Vision is a step backwards for coding, 164 points and 122 comments (Apr 10, 2024)
GPT-4-turbo preliminary benchmark results on code-editing, 74 points and 91 comments (Nov 7, 2023)
GPT-4o takes #1 and #2 on the Aider LLM leaderboards, 48 points and 7 comments (May 13, 2024)
Coding with Llama 3.1, New DeepSeek Coder and Mistral Large, 32 points and 7 comments (Jul 25, 2024)

The Board ranks tools by four signals each week: new stars, new stars for the repo's size, added downloads and download growth beyond the market. How the ranking works.

Aider alternatives

Other AI coding agents on the Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum:

Coding agents ranked by momentum, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026
Rank	Tool	Stars	Downloads/wk
#1	CindyCindy is an open-source AI agent app for desktop and mobile that combines Claude Code, Codex and Pi across your connected devices.	8.8k	–
#2	OpenMausBotOpenMausBot is an open-source desktop chat app where each contact is a local Claude, Codex, or Grok CLI agent with its own computer.	9.6k	–
#3	OrcaOrca is a desktop agent development environment for running Claude Code, Codex, and other CLI coding agents in parallel, each in its own…	111.7k	–
#4	OpenBotOpenBot is an open-source, self-hosted template for AI coworkers that each get their own browser, files and granted tools, with every…	9.1k	–
#5	Agent ReachAgent Reach is a Python CLI that lets AI agents search and read platforms such as Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, GitHub, Bilibili and…	107.2k	–
#6	Skill RecorderSkill Recorder is a desktop app that records your on-screen work session and turns it into a reusable agent Skill or Automation.	5.6k	–

All AI coding agents, ranked

Recent Aider releases

v0.86.0, Aug 9, 2025
v0.85.0, Jun 27, 2025
v0.84.0, May 30, 2025
v0.83.0, May 9, 2025
v0.82.0, Apr 14, 2025

Aider FAQ

Is Aider free and open source?

Yes. Aider's source code is on GitHub (Aider-AI/aider) under the Apache 2.0 license, so you can use it for free.

How do I install Aider?

Run python -m pip install aider-install. The aider-chat package needs Python 3.10 or newer, below 3.13. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

Is Aider still maintained?

Activity has slowed: the Aider-AI/aider repository was last updated on May 22, 2026, and the latest release, aider-chat 0.86.2 on PyPI, came out on Feb 12, 2026.

How popular is Aider?

Aider has 49.9k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 167 new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 183 a week. Its main package had 70.3k downloads that week, +13% against its own 4-week average. That made it #76 among AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board.

Aider vs OpenCode: how do they compare?

Aider and OpenCode are both tracked by Devtoolwatch as AI coding agents. Aider has 49.9k GitHub stars and OpenCode has 223.6k. OpenCode is an open source AI coding agent that helps you write and run code in a terminal, desktop app, or IDE extension. OpenCode review.

Aider vs Claude Code: how do they compare?

Aider and Claude Code are both tracked by Devtoolwatch as AI coding agents. Aider has 49.9k GitHub stars and Claude Code has 154.1k. In the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, Aider's main package had 70.3k downloads and Claude Code's had 11.6M. Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and handles git workflows through natural language. Claude Code review.

What are the best alternatives to Aider?

Other AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: Cindy (#1), OpenMausBot (#2), Orca (#3), OpenBot (#4), Agent Reach (#5). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

Can Aider use local models?

Yes. Aider can connect to almost any LLM, including local models. See the Connecting to LLMs documentation for setup details.

How do I use Aider in VS Code or another editor?

Aider can be used from within your IDE or editor. You ask for changes by adding comments to your code, and Aider picks them up and makes the edits.

How do I use Aider with Gemini?

Aider supports Gemini models such as gemini-2.5-pro and gemini-2.5-flash. In v0.85.0 the alias gemini points to gemini-2.5-pro and flash points to gemini-2.5-flash, so you can pass them with --model.

How do I use Aider with OpenRouter?

Aider accepts OpenRouter model names such as openrouter/x-ai/grok-4. If you specify an OpenRouter model without an API key, Aider offers OpenRouter OAuth authentication.

How do I undo changes Aider made?

Aider commits each change to git, so you can diff, manage and undo AI changes with familiar git tools. Aider also has an /undo command.

Which models does Aider work best with?

Aider's README says it works best with Claude 3.7 Sonnet, DeepSeek R1 and Chat V3, OpenAI o1, o3-mini and GPT-4o. Later releases added support for Claude Sonnet 4, GPT-5 and Grok-4.

Sources

Aider README badge

Maintainers can show the tool's weekly Board rank in their README:

[![Devtoolwatch](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/badge/aider.svg)](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/aider/)

How this page is made: Devtoolwatch writes each review from the project's README, releases, package metadata and website, with an AI model, then checks every claim against the source it cites and drops what the sources don't support. The numbers come from Devtoolwatch's daily GitHub snapshots, GitHub's stargazer history, and the npm and PyPI download APIs. Spotted an error? Email [email protected].