Aider vs Gemini Code Assist: Side-by-Side Comparison 2026
Aider vs Gemini Code Assist comparison 2026. Side-by-side features, pricing & capabilities.
| Feature | Aider | Gemini Code Assist |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Agent | Extension |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| Model Family | Multi-model (any) | Gemini |
| Context Window | Depends on model | 2M |
| Code Completion | ✗ | ✓ |
| Chat | ✓ | ✓ |
| Inline Editing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Agentic Mode | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multi-File Editing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Terminal Commands | ✓ | ✗ |
| Browser Use | ✗ | ✗ |
| Test Generation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Debugging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Refactoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Code Review | ✗ | ✓ |
| PR Review | ✗ | ✗ |
| Documentation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Image to Code | ✗ | ✗ |
| Voice Input | ✓ | ✗ |
| App Generation | ✗ | ✗ |
| Deployment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Git Integration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Supported IDEs | Terminal (editor-agnostic) | VS Code, JetBrains, Android Studio, Cloud Shell, Cloud Workstations |
| Open Source | Yes (Apache 2.0) | No |
Pricing verified 2026-02-05. Aider pricing | Gemini Code Assist pricing
Overview
Aider is ai agent from Paul Gauthier (Open Source). Gemini Code Assist is editor extension from Google. Both tools are actively maintained as of 2026.
Aider: What You Get
Open-source CLI tool for AI pair programming. Works with OpenAI, Claude, and other models to edit code in your local git repo.
- Git-aware editing
- Multi-file editing
- Model agnostic
- Voice coding
- Image support
- Linting integration
Pricing: Free. 1 plan available.
Models: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, GPT-4, Gemini, DeepSeek, Groq, local (Ollama), any OpenAI-compatible
Gemini Code Assist: What You Get
Google's AI-powered coding assistant built on Gemini. Provides code completions, chat, code transformations, and full codebase awareness in VS Code and JetBrains IDEs.
- Code completions
- AI chat
- Code transformations
- Codebase awareness
- Pull request summaries
- Google Cloud integration
Pricing: Free / $19/mo. 4 plans available.
Models: Gemini 2.5 Pro
Key Differences
- Category: Aider is ai agent, Gemini Code Assist is editor extension.
- Agentic mode: Aider supports agentic mode; Gemini Code Assist does not.
- Model family: Aider uses Multi-model (any); Gemini Code Assist uses Gemini.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Aider if you want Fully open-source with transparent development. Choose Gemini Code Assist if you want Deep integration with Google Cloud services and infrastructure. Both tools are strong options — the right choice depends on your workflow and priorities.
Stay in the loop
Get weekly insights on the best AI coding tools, tips, and tutorials.
Newsletter coming soon. Unsubscribe anytime.