TODO for AI
vs 
Aider
By Marcell Havlik, founder of TODO for AI · Updated
The original open-source pair-programming CLI, git-native, any model. Here is where each one wins, with numbers, and who should pick which.
| Fact | Aider | TODO for AI |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Terminal | Web, desktop, mobile, CLI, IDE (Zed, JetBrains, VS Code), voice |
| Models | Any provider (BYOK) | Any provider: Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, Ollama |
| Source | Open | Edge + CLI public |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
Key takeaways
- Models. Aider model choice: Any provider (BYOK). TODO for AI runs any provider, Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok or a local Ollama model, on one plan, and one model can review another's work.
- Benchmark. TODO for AI scored 89.9% on Terminal-Bench 2.1 with Opus 5.5 (high) (own harness, 80/89 tasks, 2026-10-08; not an official leaderboard submission).
- Price. Aider pricing: Free, Apache 2.0. Tokens billed by your provider. TODO for AI has a free plan (Claude Sonnet only), then Starter $20, Pro $100 or Ultra $200 a month with any provider included.
- Where the work happens. Aider gets one task done in one person's terminal. TODO for AI is one board your team and agents work through together, on your own PC, a cloud VM and your logged-in Chrome.
- Who should pick which. Pick Aider if you want a minimal, scriptable CLI. Pick TODO for AI if you want to delegate, not pair.
Aider
Any provider (BYOK)
TODO for AI
Any providerWe are not competing for the same job
Aider gets the task done.
TODO for AI organises the whole company’s work.
Aider answers one question: how do I get this task done, in one person's terminal? So do the others — Cursor inside the editor, Claude Code in one person's session, Lindy by asking its assistant.
We answer a different one: where does the work live? One board per project, and a project for each part of the company — engineering, marketing, ops, finance, one per client. Your colleagues work on it. So do your agents, as many as you want to run, each with its own model, tools and permissions. Items carry the people who worked them and the agent that ran them, and the board filters by person, so what the company has in flight is one screen instead of a Slack thread.
That is not a team plan bolted onto an AI tool. It is the product. The agents are how items get closed; the board is what the company runs on.
What Aider is, and where it stops
Aider is the original open-source AI pair programmer and still one of the most token-efficient. It is git-native, works with any model, and is scriptable from the shell. Many developers who dislike "agents" like Aider precisely because it does one edit at a time and shows its work.
That is the point and the limit. Aider pairs, it does not delegate. You are in the loop for every step, there is no browser, no cloud, no scheduling, and it is strictly about code.
Developers who want a lightweight, transparent CLI pair programmer.
Three reasons Aider users look elsewhere
Aider waits for you. It does not take a task and come back with the result.
No browser, no business tools, no persistent machine.
Per-developer keys and per-developer bills.
Six dimensions that decide it
Aider 16/30TODO for AI 29/30How does Aider compare to TODO for AI, feature by feature?
| Feature | Aider | TODO for AI |
|---|---|---|
Persistent cloud VM An always-on machine. Files, logins and sessions survive between runs. | No | Yes |
Model choice | Any (BYOK) | Any provider |
Cross-vendor review Review GPT output with Claude, or the other way around. | No | Yes |
Drives your real browser Browser extension (Chrome, Firefox) plus cloud browsers. | No | Yes |
Business tasks, not only code SEO, email, ads, social, CRM via CLI tools. | No | Yes |
Any CLI as an integration | Scripts | Any binary |
Voice control | No | Yes |
People and agents on one board Colleagues and agents work the same list. Items show who contributed and which agent ran them; filter the board by person. | No | Yes |
Many agents, each configured Each agent gets its own model, prompt, tools and permissions. Pick which one takes an item. | One agent | Unlimited, per task |
Projects for the whole company Engineering, marketing, ops, finance: separate projects and agents, one team and one bill. | No | Unlimited, shared |
Team roles, pooled usage | No | Roles + pooled |
Tool permissions | Basic | Allow, approve, block |
Open runtime | Yes | Edge + CLI public |
What it costs
Free, Apache 2.0. Tokens billed by your provider.
Hobby free (Sonnet only), Starter $20, Pro $100, Ultra $200. Paid plans include any model provider.