Move your team from Claude Code to Aider.
Each person gets a short interview, then a personalized step-by-step guide showing exactly where their saved work, prompts, and projects land in Aider — and the few things that need a manual step, walked through. You send one invite; nobody becomes the help desk, and nothing in Claude Code is changed or cancelled. Want to see where you’re paying for both first? Run the free audit.
Both tools build a structural understanding of your entire codebase before responding, so the AI can reason about code that isn't open in any file. Migrating from aider to Claude Code: aider's repo map (auto-generated symbol index) is replaced by Claude Code's CLAUDE.md memory files and on-demand Glob/Grep/Read exploration. Run `/init` in Claude Code to generate a CLAUDE.md with project architecture notes; place it at the repo root so it loads on every session. Migrating from Claude Code to aider: aider's repo map is fully automatic and requires no configuration — it runs on every request and adjusts dynamically based on what you're asking. If you have a CLAUDE.md with project conventions, port that content to an `.aider.conf.yml` read file (`read: CONVENTIONS.md`) so the conventions persist as read-only context. The token budget for aider's map defaults to 1,000 tokens (`--map-tokens`) and shrinks for smaller context windows; Claude Code's exploration is unbounded but respects the active model's context limit.
- Warning: Aider's repo map is a static structural snapshot (classes, functions, signatures) updated each turn; Claude Code dynamically reads file contents on demand, which is more thorough but costs more tokens per turn on large codebases.
- Warning: Claude Code's CLAUDE.md memory files are manually curated and must be kept up to date; aider's repo map is always in sync with the current git tree, requiring zero maintenance.
- Warning: Claude Code's auto memory (MEMORY.md under ~/.claude/projects/) is per-project and persists across sessions, but is Claude-curated — it may not surface the same architectural context you explicitly documented in aider's read files.
Both tools work within a git repository and support committing AI-generated changes. Migrating from aider to Claude Code: aider auto-commits after every edit by default; Claude Code does not auto-commit — you instruct it to run `git add` and `git commit` via its Bash tool, or it proposes commits at the end of a task. To replicate aider's auto-commit behavior, add a PostToolUse Hook in `.claude/settings.json` that runs `git add -p && git commit -m '...'` after Write/Edit calls, or simply ask Claude Code to commit at the end of each session. Migrating from Claude Code to aider: auto-commits are on by default; disable with `--no-auto-commits` if you prefer to review before committing. Aider tags each commit with '(aider)' in author metadata and follows Conventional Commits format for messages; Claude Code generates commit messages via the model and does not add a tool-attribution tag unless instructed.
- Warning: Aider commits immediately after every AI edit, creating a fine-grained commit history that makes `/undo` precise; Claude Code batches work across a session and relies on checkpoints (`/rewind`) for rollback rather than a commit-per-edit discipline.
- Warning: Aider's auto-commit includes pre-existing uncommitted changes in a separate prior commit, which can surprise developers who expect a clean working tree; Claude Code does not touch git state unless you instruct it to.
- Warning: Aider's commit messages are generated by a secondary model call (costing extra tokens); Claude Code generates commit messages inline when you ask it to commit, using the same session model at no extra structured cost.
Both tools let you switch the underlying LLM per session. Migrating from aider to Claude Code: aider's `--model` flag and `/model` command translate directly to Claude Code's `/model` slash command; mid-session switches preserve conversation history in both tools. The key difference is provider scope — aider supports any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, Ollama, etc.), while Claude Code is locked to Anthropic's model family (Fable 5, Opus, Sonnet, Haiku). If you relied on non-Anthropic models in aider (e.g. GPT-4.1, Gemini, DeepSeek) there is no equivalent switch in Claude Code. Migrating from Claude Code to aider: set `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` (or other provider key) in your environment, then start aider with `--model claude-opus-4-5` (or any Claude model slug); aider's `/model` command works identically to Claude Code's for mid-session switches.
- Warning: Aider is provider-agnostic (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, DeepSeek, Ollama, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint); Claude Code is Anthropic-only. Teams using DeepSeek or local Ollama models in aider cannot replicate those provider choices in Claude Code.
- Warning: Aider has no subscription of its own — you pay the model provider directly (BYOK); Claude Code requires an Anthropic subscription (Pro/Max/Team/Enterprise) or API key. For teams on aider's free Gemini tier the switch introduces a hard cost.
- Warning: Claude Code's Opus model is quota-expensive on Pro/Team Standard plans; aider users accustomed to running Opus-class models freely will hit quota limits unless they upgrade to a Max or API-billed account.
Both tools can apply coordinated edits across multiple files in a single request, showing diffs for review before committing changes. Migrating from aider to Claude Code: remove the upfront `/add` requirement — Claude Code discovers which files need editing autonomously using Glob, Grep, and Read tools, so you can describe a refactor without pre-listing files. Migrating from Claude Code to aider: use `/add` to tell aider exactly which files are in scope before each multi-file request; aider's edit formats (diff, whole, udiff) are chosen automatically per model but can be overridden with `--edit-format` if a particular model produces errors. Both tools preview changes as diffs before applying; in Claude Code you can toggle plan mode via the mode indicator to review the full plan before any file is touched, then approve individual edits. Aider offers `/undo` to revert the last commit; Claude Code offers `/rewind` (Esc twice on empty prompt in CLI) for checkpoint-based rollback of both code and conversation.
- Warning: Aider requires files to be explicitly added to context via `/add` before the AI can edit them; forgetting this is the most common source of 'aider didn't touch the right file' bugs when coming from Claude Code's autonomous file discovery.
- Warning: Claude Code's Edit tool uses exact string replacement (old_string → new_string); if a file is rapidly changing, the old_string may not match and the edit fails — aider's diff/search-replace format has the same class of failure but behaves differently, so copy-pasted aider muscle memory around conflict resolution does not transfer directly.
- Warning: Aider does not have a built-in plan-mode equivalent for previewing the full multi-file plan before execution; Claude Code's plan mode adds this safety layer, which changes the approval cadence teams need to build around.
Both tools support running linters and tests automatically after each AI-driven code change, with the AI looping to fix failures. Migrating from aider to Claude Code: aider's `--test-cmd` and `--auto-test` flags become Claude Code Hooks. Add a `PostToolUse` hook in `.claude/settings.json` that fires after the Write/Edit tool and runs your linter or test command; set exit code 2 to block the agent if the check fails. Migrating from Claude Code to aider: use `aider --test-cmd 'npm test' --auto-test` to replicate the automatic post-edit test loop; `--lint-cmd` configures the linter per language. Aider's loop is simpler to configure (single CLI flag); Claude Code Hooks are more flexible (can call HTTP endpoints, MCP tools, or subagents, and fire on any lifecycle event) but require JSON configuration in settings.json.
- Warning: Aider's lint integration has built-in per-language defaults that auto-detect common linters; Claude Code has no built-in linting — you must wire up every check manually as a Hook command.
- Warning: Aider's `--auto-test` loop reruns the test command and feeds failures back to the LLM automatically until tests pass (or the max iteration limit is hit); Claude Code's Hooks can block a turn but do not automatically re-invoke the agent — you need to describe a skill or sub-agent to replicate the autonomous fix-loop behavior.
- Warning: On Windows, Claude Code Hook commands that use npm/npx shims need `shell: powershell` in the hook config; the equivalent aider `--lint-cmd` runs in the user's default shell without special configuration.
Both tools support loading persistent project-specific instructions that the AI follows throughout a session. Migrating from aider to Claude Code: copy your aider conventions file content into `CLAUDE.md` at the repo root (or `.claude/CLAUDE.md`). Run `/init` in Claude Code to generate a starter file, then paste in your conventions. For team-shared rules, commit `CLAUDE.md`; for personal overrides, use `CLAUDE.local.md` (gitignored). If your conventions define reusable workflows (e.g. 'always run these steps to add a feature'), model them as Claude Code Skills in `.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md` so they can be invoked with `/skill-name`. Migrating from Claude Code to aider: take the content from `CLAUDE.md` and save it to a `CONVENTIONS.md` file; load it with `aider --read CONVENTIONS.md` or persist it in `.aider.conf.yml` under `read: CONVENTIONS.md`. The content is marked read-only in aider (AI cannot modify it) and is eligible for prompt caching on Anthropic models, matching Claude Code's behavior.
- Warning: Claude Code's CLAUDE.md supports @import directives (up to 4 hops) and path-scoped rules via `.claude/rules/*.md` frontmatter; aider reads flat markdown files with no import or path-scope mechanism.
- Warning: Aider's community convention files (github.com/Aider-AI/conventions) are pre-built for many frameworks; Claude Code has no equivalent curated library — you must write CLAUDE.md content from scratch or adapt aider's community files.
- Warning: Claude Code Skills add invocable workflow automation on top of static conventions — aider has no parallel to Skills; teams migrating to aider will lose the ability to trigger structured workflows with slash commands.
Both tools run as terminal REPLs where you describe what you want and the AI modifies your code. To migrate from aider to Claude Code: install with `npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code` and run `claude` from your project root. Your aider workflow of typing requests and reviewing changes is preserved — Claude Code uses the same model, reads the same files, and shows edits as inline diffs. To migrate from Claude Code to aider: run `pip install aider-chat` and launch with `aider` in your project root; explicitly add files to the chat context with `/add` rather than relying on automatic exploration. Key workflow shift: aider requires you to declare which files the AI may edit upfront (`/add file.py`), while Claude Code autonomously discovers and edits files based on your request using its Glob/Grep/Read tools.
- Warning: Aider's REPL is purely text-based and single-window; Claude Code's REPL integrates with VS Code via the built-in IDE MCP server for native diff views and inline approval — this IDE integration does not exist in aider.
- Warning: Claude Code requires an Anthropic subscription (Pro/Max/Team/Enterprise) or API key — aider accepts any provider's API key or a free Gemini/OpenRouter tier, so the switch may introduce a new subscription cost.
- Warning: Session context: aider keeps full verbatim history in the window; Claude Code offers `/compact` to summarize history when context fills up, which loses raw detail aider would have retained.