Aider free tier: how far you get
Aider free tier: Aider itself is free and open source (Apache 2.0). You pay your model provider; OpenRouter ':free' models cost $0 but are rate-limited.. In our 2026-10-16 test: About 1.0K tokens sent and 1.3K received per bugfix run, $0 on a free OpenRouter model.
Based on our own test on 2026-10-16 (3 runs) and the official pricing page (checked 2026-10-16).
What the free plan includes
Aider itself is free and open source (Apache 2.0). You pay your model provider; OpenRouter ':free' models cost $0 but are rate-limited.
What our test used
About 1.0K tokens sent and 1.3K received per bugfix run, $0 on a free OpenRouter model.
How far that gets you
Not enough data to estimate.
Paid plans
Free open source (Apache 2.0); pay your LLM provider
FAQ
Is Aider free?
Yes: free tool, BYO API key or local models
How much did our test use on the Aider free plan?
In our test (2026-10-16, 3 runs): About 1.0K tokens sent and 1.3K received per bugfix run, $0 on a free OpenRouter model.
How far does the Aider free plan go?
Not enough data to estimate from our test.
Full Aider review (9.3/10) · Best free tools in this category · Methodology