Developer assistant backend cost drivers
Code context, generated patches, and repeated agent calls make both input and output rates relevant to a developer assistant budget.
Workload cost scenario
Developer Assistant API Cost Calculator
Estimate LLM API cost for a developer assistant that sends code context and returns implementation guidance or edits.
Developer-tool teams planning usage-based coding assistance.
Lowest tracked estimate
$38.44
Gemini 1.5 Flash for the current assumptions
Lowest cost does not mean best model. Test output quality, latency, retries, and reliability on your own workload.
Cost comparison
Estimated monthly cost by model
Comparing 45 models that fit the initial input length.
| Model | Provider | Input cost | Output cost | Monthly estimate | Context usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 1.5 Flash | $15.94 | $22.50 | $38.44 | 0.5% | |
| GPT-OSS 20B on Groq | Groq | $16.85 | $22.50 | $39.35 | 3.8% |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash non-thinking | DeepSeek | $28.14 | $21.00 | $49.14 | 0.5% |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite | $20.50 | $30.00 | $50.50 | 0.5% | |
| Llama 4 Scout on Groq | Groq | $27.50 | $25.50 | $53.00 | 3.8% |
| GPT-4o mini | OpenAI | $33.75 | $45.00 | $78.75 | 3.9% |
| GPT-OSS 120B on Groq | Groq | $33.75 | $45.00 | $78.75 | 3.8% |
| Command R 08-2024 | Cohere | $37.50 | $45.00 | $82.50 | 3.9% |
| Qwen3-32B on Groq | Groq | $72.50 | $44.25 | $116.75 | 3.8% |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $41.00 | $90.00 | $131.00 | 0.5% |
| gpt-5.4-nano | OpenAI | $41.00 | $93.75 | $134.75 | 1.3% |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | DeepSeek | $87.18 | $65.25 | $152.43 | 0.5% |
| Gemini 3.5 Live Translate Preview | $51.25 | $112.50 | $163.75 | 3.8% | |
| Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | $51.25 | $112.50 | $163.75 | 0.5% | |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | $61.50 | $187.50 | $249.00 | 0.5% | |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $61.50 | $187.50 | $249.00 | 0.5% | |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $102.50 | $225.00 | $327.50 | 0.5% | |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $153.75 | $281.25 | $435.00 | 0.5% | |
| Gemini 3.7 Flash | $153.75 | $281.25 | $435.00 | 0.5% | |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $153.75 | $281.25 | $435.00 | 0.5% | |
| gpt-5.4-mini | OpenAI | $153.75 | $337.50 | $491.25 | 1.3% |
| Kimi K2.6 | Moonshot AI | $198.00 | $300.00 | $498.00 | 1.9% |
| Kimi K2.7 Code | Moonshot AI | $199.50 | $300.00 | $499.50 | 1.9% |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Anthropic | $205.00 | $375.00 | $580.00 | 2.5% |
| Gemini 1.5 Pro | $312.50 | $375.00 | $687.50 | 0.2% | |
| Mistral Medium 3.5 | Mistral | $307.50 | $562.50 | $870.00 | 2.0% |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $425.00 | $450.00 | $875.00 | 1.0% |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | $307.50 | $675.00 | $982.50 | 0.5% | |
| Kimi K2.7 Code High-Speed | Moonshot AI | $399.00 | $600.00 | $999.00 | 1.9% |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | $256.25 | $750.00 | $1,006.25 | 0.5% | |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $410.00 | $750.00 | $1,160.00 | 0.5% |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $410.00 | $900.00 | $1,310.00 | 0.5% |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | $410.00 | $900.00 | $1,310.00 | 0.5% | |
| GPT-4o | OpenAI | $562.50 | $750.00 | $1,312.50 | 3.9% |
| Command R+ 08-2024 | Cohere | $625.00 | $750.00 | $1,375.00 | 3.9% |
| Command A | Cohere | $625.00 | $750.00 | $1,375.00 | 2.0% |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Anthropic | $615.00 | $1,125.00 | $1,740.00 | 0.5% |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot AI | $615.00 | $1,125.00 | $1,740.00 | 0.5% |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $820.00 | $1,500.00 | $2,320.00 | 0.5% |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $1,025.00 | $1,875.00 | $2,900.00 | 0.5% |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $1,250.00 | $1,875.00 | $3,125.00 | 0.5% |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $2,050.00 | $3,750.00 | $5,800.00 | 0.5% |
| Claude Mythos 5 | Anthropic | $2,050.00 | $3,750.00 | $5,800.00 | 0.5% |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $2,050.00 | $3,750.00 | $5,800.00 | 0.5% |
| GPT-5.6 Cyber | OpenAI | $2,562.50 | $5,625.00 | $8,187.50 | 1.3% |
What to measure
- Measure accepted work per dollar, not tokens alone.
- Avoid sending the full repository when targeted context is sufficient.
- Track retries, test-fix loops, and background agent calls.
Estimate boundary: The calculation does not compare coding quality and excludes indexing, execution sandboxes, and repository storage.
View pricing sources
How StackLens verifies data and calculates cost
OpenAI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-09-08
Tracked prices for included OpenAI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Anthropic model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-09-08
Tracked prices for included Anthropic models are checked against official provider documentation.
Google model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-09-03
Tracked prices for included Google models are checked against official provider documentation.
DeepSeek model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-08-16
Tracked prices for included DeepSeek models are checked against official provider documentation.
Groq model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-15
Tracked prices for included Groq models are checked against official provider documentation.
Groq model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-15
Tracked prices for included Groq models are checked against official provider documentation.
Groq model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-15
Tracked prices for included Groq models are checked against official provider documentation.
Groq model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-15
Tracked prices for included Groq models are checked against official provider documentation.
Google model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Google models are checked against official provider documentation.
Google model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Google models are checked against official provider documentation.
Cohere model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Cohere models are checked against official provider documentation.
Cohere model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Cohere models are checked against official provider documentation.
Cohere model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Cohere models are checked against official provider documentation.
Mistral model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Mistral models are checked against official provider documentation.
Moonshot AI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Moonshot AI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Moonshot AI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Moonshot AI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Moonshot AI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included Moonshot AI models are checked against official provider documentation.
xAI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-17
Tracked prices for included xAI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Anthropic model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-09-08
Tracked prices for included Anthropic models are checked against official provider documentation.
Provider pricing used in this comparison
Review the source-tracked provider pages before using this workload estimate in a budget.