Open sourceOpenAI-compatibleAider

Aider

Open-source AI pair programming in your terminal.

Aider works with almost any model. Use OpenAI or Anthropic keys directly, or set an OpenAI-compatible base URL to route through a cheaper provider.

Official docs ↗

Setup steps

1
Install Aider
Requires Python 3.8 or newer. Installs the aider command via pip.
bash
```
python -m pip install aider-chat
```
2
Option A: use a provider key
Set the key for your model's provider, then pick a model with --model.
bash / zsh
```
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key"
aider --model gpt-4o
```
3
Option B: use a custom endpoint
Set OPENAI_API_BASE to your provider's URL and prefix the model name with openai/.
bash / zsh
```
export OPENAI_API_BASE="https://api.example.com/v1"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key"
aider --model openai/your-model-name
```
4
Make it permanent
Save the endpoint, key and model in a .env file in your project so you don't retype them.
.env
```
OPENAI_API_BASE=https://api.example.com/v1
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key
AIDER_MODEL=openai/your-model-name
```

Tip: For OpenAI-compatible endpoints, prefix the model with openai/ so Aider treats it as OpenAI-style, e.g. --model openai/your-model-name.

Pick a cheaper model or provider first, then plug its key and endpoint into the steps above. Compare prices · Browse providers