head to head · open source
Cline vs Aider
Cline has 68,517 GitHub stars, 7,409 forks, 1,288 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Aider has 49,021 stars, 4,967 forks, 1,860 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Cline leads on adoption by 40% (68,517 vs 49,021 stars). Cline is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Aider is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Cline has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Aider 10%. Cline was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Cline | Aider | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 69K | ★ 49K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.4K | ⑂ 5.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Cline if
- You weight community size — 69K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Aider if
- You want the Aider feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Aider fits your workflow better
About Cline
Cline is an open source AI coding agent that operates across multiple interfaces: as a CLI tool, desktop application, VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin, and SDK. It lives in the developer tooling ecosystem and is built with TypeScript under the Apache 2.0 license. The project solves the problem of fragmented AI assisted coding workflows by unifying agent capabilities—code generation, command execution, project wide edits, and human in the loop approval—into a single extensible engine that works consistently across environments.
read the full Cline overview →
About Aider
Aider is an open source AI pair programming tool that runs in the terminal. It connects to large language models—cloud based or local—to assist with writing, editing, and debugging code directly within a developer’s existing workflow. Built in Python and licensed under Apache 2.0, it integrates with popular LLMs including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, and open source models like Llama.
read the full Aider overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Cline or Aider more popular?
Cline has 68,517 GitHub stars and Aider has 49,021. Cline has the larger community by that measure.
Are Cline and Aider free?
Both are open source. Cline is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Aider under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Cline and Aider?
Cline is written in TypeScript and Aider in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Cline or Aider?
Choose Cline if you want the larger community (68,517 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Aider if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.