head to head · open source
Orca vs Aider
Orca has 71,017 GitHub stars, 4,642 forks, 5,801 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Aider has 49,021 stars, 4,967 forks, 1,860 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Orca leads on adoption by 45% (71,017 vs 49,021 stars). Orca is written in TypeScript under MIT; Aider is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Orca has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Aider 10%. Orca was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (cli), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Orca | Aider | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 49K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.6K | ⑂ 5.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Orca if
- You weight community size — 71K stars and counting
- You want the MIT 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 Orca
Orca is an agent desktop environment (ADE) that runs multiple AI coding agents in parallel, each in its own isolated git worktree. It unifies workflow, monitoring, and collaboration around AI assisted coding across desktop, mobile, and remote runtimes. Built for developers who rely on several AI coding tools simultaneously, Orca eliminates context switching by tracking all agents and their outputs in one place.
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 Orca or Aider more popular?
Orca has 71,017 GitHub stars and Aider has 49,021. Orca has the larger community by that measure.
Are Orca and Aider free?
Both are open source. Orca is licensed under MIT and Aider under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Orca and Aider?
Orca 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, Orca or Aider?
Choose Orca if you want the larger community (71,017 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Aider if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.