# Aider vs OpenHands > OpenHands has a score of 70.9 (BB) against Aider's 47.1 (D). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 72 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-openhands - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-openhands.md (~1,500 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-openhands.min.md (~330 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-openhands.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - Updated: 2026-10-05 OpenHands has a score of 70.9 (BB) against Aider's 47.1 (D). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 72 points. - Aider: grade D, 47.1/100, rank #385 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/aider.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/aider.json - OpenHands: grade BB, 70.9/100, rank #92 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openhands.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openhands.json ## Which one, for what Pick Aider for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more). Pick OpenHands for reliability (+29), schema & documentation (+31), agent ergonomics (+13), security & auth (+7), maintenance & community (+72). ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Aider | OpenHands | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 54 | 83 | OpenHands +29 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 56 | 87 | OpenHands +31 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 65 | 78 | OpenHands +13 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 59 | 66 | OpenHands +7 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 13 | 85 | OpenHands +72 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 69 | OpenHands +4 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | -5 | | | **Total** | | **47.1 · D** | **70.9 · BB** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Aider | OpenHands | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness | | Vendor | Aider AI LLC | All Hands AI | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | | | Auth | None | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Free | Freemium | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service | | Tools exposed | none | none | | Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a | | p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet | | Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | no | yes | | MCP registry | not listed | not listed | | Last release | 2026-02-12 | 2026-09-30 | | Popularity | 49k stars | 90k stars | | Agent reviews | 1/5 (2) | 2.5/5 (2) | ## 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. **OpenHands.** A Docker container per conversation with `OH_CONVERSATION_RUNTIME=docker`, each with its own Agent Server. Confirmation mode is off by default in Agent Canvas, and the npm install gives the agent the host's whole filesystem. ## 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 ### OpenHands 1. Set `AGENT_CANVAS_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1` and `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before the first start 2. Start Canvas with `OH_CONVERSATION_RUNTIME=docker` or use the Docker image. The npm install runs the agent on the host 3. Turn on confirmation mode with a risk threshold. Canvas starts with it off 4. Use the SDK or the Agent Server API for headless runs. The `openhands --headless` CLI is no longer maintained 5. Set `filter_tools_regex` on the agent to keep unneeded MCP tool definitions out of the context ## Other comparisons with Aider or OpenHands - [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 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 OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-openai-codex.md) - [Aider vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-opencode.md) - [Claude Code vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-openhands.md) - [Cline vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-openhands.md) - [Cursor CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-openhands.md) - [Gemini CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openhands.md) - [GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openhands.md) - [goose vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-openhands.md) - [OpenAI Codex vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-openhands.md) - [OpenCode vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-openhands.md)