Compare AI tools

	Aider A	DALL-E 3 B	Claude Code S	Gemini A
Tagline	Terminal-based AI pair programmer. Git-aware, model-flexible.	OpenAI's image model. Built into ChatGPT Plus.	Anthropic's CLI agent. Opus-powered, operates on your repo directly.	Google's answer. Best integrated with Workspace + free for a lot.
Category	Coding	Image	Coding	Chatbots
Pricing	Free (open source) + whatever API you use	Included with ChatGPT Plus $20/mo	Part of Claude Pro/Max/Team plans	Free + $20/mo Advanced (bundled with 2TB Drive)
Best for	Developers who want open-source tooling with full control.	ChatGPT Plus users who want images without paying extra.	Developers who want an agent, not autocomplete. Large refactors, tests, docs.	Anyone already on Google, research tasks, summarizing long documents.
Strengths	Works in any terminal Auto-commits changes with meaningful messages Works with any model (Claude, GPT, local) Minimal learning curve	Excellent prompt understanding Built into ChatGPT — no extra subscription Good at composition + concepts	Runs locally, edits your actual files Strong on large codebases with 1M context Great at multi-step tasks	Native Google Workspace integration Very long context (1M+) Deep Research feature Free tier is generous
Weaknesses	Terminal-only Less agentic than Claude Code Setup on Windows is fiddly	Aesthetic ceiling below Midjourney + Ideogram Text rendering worse than Ideogram No fine control	Terminal-based — learning curve Can't be used without Claude subscription	Writing quality trails Claude Over-refusals on edge content UI is cluttered
Kai's verdict	A-tier. The right answer if you want open-source + terminal-native + model-agnostic.	B-tier standalone, A-tier value if you already pay ChatGPT. Don't pay for it separately.	S-tier if you live in the terminal. Different shape than Cursor — complementary, not replacement.	A-tier. The Deep Research feature is genuinely useful. Don't sleep on it if you're already paying Google.
Link	Open →	Open →	Open →	Open →