Compare AI tools

	Claude Code S	Aider A	Ideogram S	Perplexity S
Tagline	Anthropic's CLI agent. Opus-powered, operates on your repo directly.	Terminal-based AI pair programmer. Git-aware, model-flexible.	The one that actually gets text in images right.	AI search done right. Cited answers, not chat theater.
Category	coding	coding	image	research
Pricing	Part of Claude Pro/Max/Team plans	Free (open source) + whatever API you use	Free + $8/mo + $20/mo + $60/mo	Free + $20/mo Pro
Best for	Developers who want an agent, not autocomplete. Large refactors, tests, docs.	Developers who want open-source tooling with full control.	Anything with text — posters, ads, album covers, slide decks.	Replacing Google for any question where you want a cited answer in seconds.
Strengths	Runs locally, edits your actual files Strong on large codebases with 1M context Great at multi-step tasks	Works in any terminal Auto-commits changes with meaningful messages Works with any model (Claude, GPT, local) Minimal learning curve	Best text rendering in the game Strong free tier Good for logos, posters, thumbnails	Sources every claim Fast, current answers Pro Search runs multi-step research Spaces for persistent context
Weaknesses	Terminal-based — learning curve Can't be used without Claude subscription	Terminal-only Less agentic than Claude Code Setup on Windows is fiddly	Aesthetic ceiling below Midjourney Less style variety	Not a general chatbot Answers can be shallow on complex topics
Kai's verdict	S-tier if you live in the terminal. Different shape than Cursor — complementary, not replacement.	A-tier. The right answer if you want open-source + terminal-native + model-agnostic.	S-tier for text-in-image. Use this for posters, Midjourney for art.	S-tier for search. I use it before Google now. If you're still Googling everything, try this for a week.
Link	Open →	Open →	Open →	Open →