Aider vs Zed AI

Detailed comparison across 10 dimensions

Winner: Aider

Aider clearly comes out ahead of Zed AI on Staquest's weighted six-dimension score. Both offer a free tier.

Quick Overview

Overview	AiderTerminal AI pair programmer that edits code in git repos.	Zed AIRust-based high-performance editor with AI features.
Type	ai tool	ai tool
Company	Aider	Zed Industries
Free Tier
Has API
Open Source
Trending	Stable	Stable
Industries	DevelopmentAI & Machine LearningEducation & EdTech	-
Categories	ai-codingdeveloper-tools	-
Website	Visit	Visit

Dimension Scores

Winners by Dimension

Overall Winner

Aider

Aider: 6.2Zed AI: 5.3(+0.8 pts)

Free Tier

Aider10% weight

Aider

9.5

Zed AI

7.0

Integrations

Tie10% weight

Aider

4.0

Zed AI

4.0

Community

Tie5% weight

Aider

3.1

Zed AI

3.0

Open Source

Tie5% weight

Aider

7.0

Zed AI

7.0

Pricing Comparison

Aider

Free (Open Source)

Free

open source

AI pair programming in the terminal
Automatic Git commits with descriptive messages
Support for GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and other major LLMs
Multi-file editing and refactoring
Repository-wide code understanding and mapping
Voice-to-code support
+1 more

Zed AI

No pricing data available.

Frequently asked questions

Is Aider or Zed AI better?

On Staquest's weighted six-dimension scoring, Aider comes out ahead overall, though Zed AI can be the better fit depending on your priorities — see the dimension-by-dimension breakdown above.

Does Aider or Zed AI have a free tier?

Both Aider and Zed AI offer a free tier.

Which is better for free tier, Aider or Zed AI?

Aider scores higher on free tier in Staquest's analysis. It is the highest-weighted dimension in this comparison.

View Aider View Zed AI