Aider
Terminal-based AI pair programmer that edits code and commits to git.
What is Aider?
Aider is a free, open-source AI pair programming tool that runs directly in your terminal. It makes changes across your codebase, commits them to git, and can run your tests to verify its own work.
Who is Aider best for?
Terminal-first developers who want a git-native, model-agnostic AI coding assistant with minimal overhead and near-zero cost when paired with cheap or local models.
How does Aider work?
Aider maps your whole repository with tree-sitter to understand function and class signatures, then applies your typed or spoken instructions as edits and auto-commits each change to git. It connects to cloud or local LLMs.
Pros
- Free and open source, no markup on tokens
- Automatic git commits for every change
- Supports 100+ languages and many models
- Repo mapping keeps context efficient
Cons
- Command-line only, no GUI
- You pay LLM API token costs
- Requires git and terminal comfort
- Less hand-holding than GUI tools
