Aider vs Amp (2026): Which Vibe Coding App Is Better?

Both are popular terminal coding agents. Here is how Aider and Amp stack up on price, strengths and weaknesses, and which one we would pick.

Aider

The original open-source AI pair programmer in your terminal

7.8 /10

Pricing: Open source

Pros

Git-native: every change is a clean commit
Works with nearly any model, including local ones
Mature, well documented, very predictable

Cons

No MCP servers, skills or subagents
More hands-on than autonomous agents

Visit Aider ↗

Amp

Frontier coding agent for the terminal and editor, from the makers of Sourcegraph

8.2 /10

Pricing: Free plan, paid from $20/mo

Pros

Strong results on hard, multi-step tasks
Shared threads for team review
Subagents and AGENTS.md built in

Cons

Usage-based costs add up on large tasks
Fewer configuration knobs by design

Visit Amp ↗

Aider vs Amp at a glance

	Aider	Amp
Editor score	7.8 / 10	8.2 / 10
Pricing model	Open source	Freemium
Starting price	Free	$20/mo
Reader upvotes	0	0
Best for	terminal, open source, git	terminal, agent
Agent Skills support	No	Yes
Subagents support	No	Yes
MCP support	No	Yes
AGENTS.md support	No	Yes
Plugins support	No	Yes
Hooks support	No	No
Rules support	Yes	No
Agent skills in this directory	4	47
Subagents & agents in this directory	4	9
MCP servers in this directory	1	72

Our pick

Amp edges it with a score of 8.2 versus 7.8. Amp is the better fit if you value: strong results on hard, multi-step tasks, shared threads for team review. Choose Aider instead if you need: git-native: every change is a clean commit, works with nearly any model, including local ones.