# Aider vs Crush

> Crush scores 56.5 (C) to Aider's 46.9 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Crush scores 56.5 (C) on agent readiness against Aider's 46.9 (D), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Aider leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth, payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do agent harnesses.

- Aider: grade D, 46.9/100, rank #959 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/aider.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/aider.json
- Crush: grade C, 56.5/100, rank #705 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/crush.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/crush.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 713 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Aider (D)

Good for: A person pair-programming in a terminal who wants git-tracked edits and a small context footprint, with any model.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 65 against 52
- Security & auth, 59 against 44
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 55
- Transparency & trust, 63 against 56

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: No release since 0.86.2 on 12 February 2026 and no commit since 22 May 2026

### Crush (C)

Good for: Developers who want a Go terminal agent with a wide provider list, local models and Claude Code-compatible hooks.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 65 against 56
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 13

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 2.3 against 1.0 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where Aider loses 8 points for them

Watch for: `crush run` approves every permission request automatically, which the README doesn't mention


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Aider | Crush | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 54 | 54 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 56 | 65 | Crush +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 65 | 52 | Aider +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 59 | 44 | Aider +15 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 55 | Aider +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 13 | 82 | Crush +69 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 56 | Aider +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **46.9 · D** | **56.5 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Aider | Crush |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Aider AI LLC | Charm |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | FSL-1.1-MIT (source-available, each release converts to MIT two years after it is made available) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-02-12 | 2026-10-09 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 49k stars | 29k stars, 5.6k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 1/5 (2) | 2.3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Aider.** Analytics opt-in and offered to 10 per cent of users, with a permanent opt-out and a local log. No release since 0.86.2 on 12 February 2026 and no commit since 22 May 2026.

**Crush.** Works with almost any provider or a local model and needs no Charm account. `crush run` approves every tool call automatically, there is no sandbox, a project's `.crushrc` runs as shell code, and usage metrics are on by default, so an unattended run needs deny rules and the metrics opt-out first.

## Before you call either

### Aider

1. Read `.aider.conf.yml` in any cloned repository before starting aider. Its `test-cmd` and `lint-cmd` run without asking
2. Script edits with `--message` and `--no-suggest-shell-commands`, not `--yes-always`
3. Use Python 3.12 or earlier for the PyPI release
4. Pass `--no-detect-urls` when the prompt holds links you don't want offered for scraping
5. Check `git log` after a run. Each edit is its own commit

### Crush

1. Add `permissions deny` rules or a PreToolUse hook before `crush run`. It approves every permission request in its session
2. Read `.crushrc`, `crushrc` and `crush.json` in a cloned repository before running Crush there. They execute as shell code at startup
3. Set `CRUSH_DISABLE_METRICS=1` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` to stop usage metrics to data.charm.land
4. Wrap `crush run` in your own timeout. It has no turn, time or cost limit flag
5. Configure a provider by environment variable or `crushrc` first. With none, `crush run` exits with an error asking for interactive setup

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Aider or Crush?

Crush scores 56.5 (C) on agent readiness against Aider's 46.9 (D), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Aider leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth, payments & pricing and transparency & trust.

### Are Aider and Crush open source?

Aider is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Crush.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-crush.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-crush.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "aider", "b": "crush"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare aider crush`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/aider.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/crush.json

## Other comparisons with Aider or Crush

- [Agent Zero vs Aider](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-aider.md)
- [Agent Zero vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-crush.md)
- [Aider vs Amp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-amp.md)
- [Aider vs Antigravity CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-antigravity-cli.md)
- [Aider vs Auggie CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-auggie.md)
- [Aider vs Claude Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-claude-code.md)
- [Aider vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-cline.md)
- [Aider vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-cursor-cli.md)
- [Aider vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-deepseek-harness.md)
- [Aider vs Devin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-devin.md)
- [Aider vs Droid CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-droid-cli.md)
- [Aider vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Aider vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-gemini-cli.md)
- [Aider vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)
- [Aider vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-goose.md)
- [Aider vs Harness²](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-harness2.md)
- [Aider vs HarnessRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-harnessrouter.md)
- [Aider vs Jules](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-jules.md)
- [Aider vs Junie CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-junie.md)
- [Aider vs Kilo Code CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kilo-code-cli.md)
- [Aider vs Kimi Code CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kimi-code-cli.md)
- [Aider vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Aider vs mini-swe-agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-mini-swe-agent.md)
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- [Aider vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-muse-code.md)
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- [Aider vs Qoder CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-qoder-cli.md)
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- [Aider vs Rovo Dev CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-rovo-dev-cli.md)
- [Aider vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-warp.md)
- [Amp vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-crush.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-crush.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-crush.md)
- [Claude Code vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-crush.md)
- [Cline vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-crush.md)
- [Crush vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-cursor-cli.md)
- [Crush vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-deepseek-harness.md)
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- [Crush vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-gemini-cli.md)
- [Crush vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)
- [Crush vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-goose.md)
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- [Crush vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-muse-code.md)
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- [Crush vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-warp.md)
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