[Philip-J-Fry]

That depends entirely on how you're using AI. If you're getting it to do all the hard thinking, then sure using the best model is probably always going to be better. But it's also going to be expensive.

Using cheaper models and using your skills and expertise from the pre-AI era can get you working just as fast. You've gotta be more specific about the work you need doing. It's less "vibes" based, but they're still effective.

Also, Chinese models absolutely are taking off. I used Claude and GPT at work, and then I tried using some Chinese models for personal projects. I am 100% convinced they're like 90% as good for 10% of the cost. But you've basically gotta be a good developer first and know what you want and know when it's giving you shit.

[user43928]

Or maybe you are still iterating on a plan or spec file with Qwen 3.6 27B, while I implemented three features with Fable and QA tested them in the testing environment.

Of course, if you think that this approach is as fast and effective as "vibe coding" as in outsourcing more thinking to the AI, it is not surprising you would conclude the cheaper models were nearly as useful.

I don't know if you are right or not, a lot depends on the constraints of the project and team.

Some of the newer arguably now viable use cases, such as porting a large codebase to Rust, are certainly not going to be as fast with a more manual approach.

[theshrike79]

OpenCode + GLM has become a daily driver for me. With the z.ai subscription it’s super cheap too.

I’d describe it as something between Sonnet and Opus.

[satvikpendem]

Is it cheaper than Codex for example? The problem with paying per token via API is it's not subsidized like subscriptions are, maybe Z AI one is though. But GLM doesn't have vision which is a deal breaker for many frontend or full stack tasks.

[bottlepalm]

Honestly I'm on $200 a month for Claude Max and $100 a month for Codex, and it's nothing compared to the productivity gains if you're programming professionally. 10 bucks a day, I spend more for lunch. Time is money and I'm not going to waste time with a lesser model if I don't have to.

[satvikpendem]

Yeah if you're a professional engineer it's a no brainer to buy these subs, even multiple subs, and you could replace another employee's salary especially if you're a solo founder working on your own product.