Aider vs Continue

Option A

Aider

Terminal pair programmer that edits the repo and can commit — git is the interface.

Best for

• CLI-first developers
• Git-native multi-file edits
• People who refuse an IDE migration

Strengths

• No IDE religion
• The diff is the conversation

Trade-offs

• CLI tax
• You own the model bill

Verdict

Aider is the terminal harness. Claude Code is the other one with a stronger Anthropic flavor. Cursor is the IDE. Copilot is the seat switch. Use Aider when git is already home. Review every commit message. Confirm which models you will pay for. If the team wants a window with a file tree and a chat, you wanted Cursor, and that is allowed. Stay in Aider when the diff is the conversation. Leave when the team needs a file tree and a chat pane. Confirm the model bill before you let it roam a monorepo overnight.

Option B

Continue

Open VS Code / JetBrains plugin: autocomplete and chat against models you configure.

Best for

• Teams that want model choice inside VS Code or JetBrains
• Local plus API mixes
• People willing to own config

Strengths

• No forced IDE migration
• Control

Trade-offs

• Config tax
• Not a managed agent product

Verdict

Continue is the open plugin path. Cursor is managed agent UX. Copilot is the seat switch. Cody is Sourcegraph context. Tabnine is private completion. Pick Continue when someone will own the config file. Write that name down. If the name is “we’ll figure it out,” buy Copilot and stop pretending you run a platform. Pick Continue when a named person owns the YAML. Pick Copilot when nobody will. Document allowed models. Surprise local weights are how two teammates debug two different worlds.