Compare Aider and OpenAI Codex free tiers side by side. Pricing, limits, change history, and risk assessment for developers.

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Aider vs OpenAI Codex

Side-by-side free tier comparison. Catalogue dates here run to 2026-08-30.

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Verdict

We are not publishing a free-tier verdict for either Aider or OpenAI Codex. The page we cite for Aider states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-09-02. Tier "Freemium" is a paid product with a trial-shaped entry point, not a stated free tier. We are not publishing a stability rating for OpenAI Codex. We are not comparing the two pricing histories.

A verdict here is not a fixed property of the vendor. A one-off pricing event demotes a vendor while its recorded date falls in the last 180 days and then lapses on its own, with nothing about the vendor having changed; a standing condition — a free tier withdrawn, a product retired — does not lapse with time. A badge carrying a date states the record it rests on; a badge with no date rests on no record in force.

Aider profile → OpenAI Codex profile →

Aider

Risk
CategoryAI Coding
TierOpen Source
Verified2026-07-27
Last read2026-09-02
Changes0 recorded
Open-source AI pair programming CLI tool. Fully free — users provide their own LLM API keys (supports GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Ollama local models). Git-aware editing, multi-file changes, voice coding, in-chat image support. Apache 2.0 licensed.The page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-09-02, so we cannot confirm these terms today.

OpenAI Codex

Risk
CategoryAI Coding
TierFreemium
Verified2026-08-30
Last read2026-08-30
Changes1 recorded
Cloud-native coding agent by OpenAI. Available with a ChatGPT subscription and, separately, with an API key billed on token use; both routes are current. ChatGPT Business has two seat types, both carrying Codex: Standard at $20/user/mo billed annually ($25 monthly) and Premium at $100/user/mo billed annually ($125 monthly), where Premium buys 5x more usage than Standard and removes the five-hour usage limit. Also in ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) and Pro (from $100/mo). Codex-only pay-as-you-go seats closed to new Business workspaces in June 2026; existing seats continue. The Codex pricing page we cite lists only the Standard seat — the Premium seat is published on OpenAI's business pricing page. $100 credit per new Codex team member (up to $500/team, limited time). 2M+ weekly users. API via codex-mini at $1.50/1M input, $6/1M output tokens.

Pricing Change History

Aider

No recorded pricing changes for Aider.

OpenAI Codex

restructured effective 2026-04-03 medium impact
Switched from per-seat subscription to pay-as-you-go token-based pricing. Teams can add Codex-only seats billed on token consumption with no rate limits. ChatGPT Business price cut from $25 to $20/month (annual). $100 credit per new Codex team member (up to $500/team, limited time) Source ↗

Watch Both Vendors for Pricing Changes

We do not push notifications. Every change we record is readable the moment it lands, and the JSON answer carries an ETag — send it back as If-None-Match and an unchanged answer costs one 304.

curl https://agentdeals.dev/api/changes?vendor=Aider curl https://agentdeals.dev/pricing-changes/feed.xml?vendor=Aider curl https://agentdeals.dev/api/changes?vendor=OpenAI%20Codex curl https://agentdeals.dev/pricing-changes/feed.xml?vendor=OpenAI%20Codex

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