AI coding assistants · RankedAider
Aider is an AI pair programming tool that runs in the terminal · aider.chat ↗
Read the same way at every company size.
The standing depends on who is buying. Every model is asked the same questions for each company size.
GitHub Copilot is first at 73%.
GitHub Copilot is first at 80%.
GitHub Copilot is first at 86%.
Why models recommend it
“Start by installing Cline (in VS Code) or Aider (in terminal)”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Budget-constrained question · first choice
“A free, open-source tool that is also vendor-independent and allows you to bring your own API key.”Llama 4 Maverick · Budget-constrained question · alternative
“Best for: Terminal-centric developers who want lightweight, transparent AI assistance”DeepSeek V4 Flash · Comparative question · alternative
“Excellent for git-integrated workflows and rapid prototyping in the command line.”Grok 4.20 · Comparative question · alternative
What gives them pause
“Be particularly cautious with: Autonomous agent modes in tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Aider, Devin, and Copilot Workspace”Perplexity Sonar · Negative question · warning
Also on the shortlist
The products named in the same answers as Aider, over the 20 answers that named it, and how often each was the first choice instead.
| Product | Named together | Picked instead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 12 | Compare → | |
| 17 | 4 | Compare → | |
| 13 | 0 | View → | |
| 11 | 2 | View → | |
| 11 | 0 | Compare → | |
| 10 | 2 | Compare → | |
| 9 | 0 | View → | |
| 8 | 1 | Compare → | |
| 8 | 0 | View → | |
| 5 | 0 | View → |
What the models named instead of Aider →
A side-by-side page exists where both products are among a category's top eight.
At a glance
Stated on Aider's own site, not checked by Gane.
- For
- people who want to pair program with LLMs to start a new project or build on your existing codebase
How this is measured
Fourteen AI models from 12 labs are asked the same buying questions six ways, for three company sizes. Standings refresh every edition.
Gane sells AI visibility software. No company can pay to change a result.
Read the method →Sources returned with these answers
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted. These counts come from 20 of the 20 answers that named Aider and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
Fifty-eight of the fifty-eight domain citations in answers naming Aider came from a third party's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
By model
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |