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
$49.14
DeepSeek V4 Flash non-thinking 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 22 models that fit the initial input length.
| Model | Provider | Input cost | Output cost | Monthly estimate | Context usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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% | |
| GPT-4o mini | OpenAI | $33.75 | $45.00 | $78.75 | 3.9% |
| 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 Flash Preview | $102.50 | $225.00 | $327.50 | 0.5% | |
| gpt-5.4-mini | OpenAI | $153.75 | $337.50 | $491.25 | 1.3% |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Anthropic | $205.00 | $375.00 | $580.00 | 2.5% |
| gpt-5.6-luna | OpenAI | $205.00 | $450.00 | $655.00 | 0.5% |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | $307.50 | $675.00 | $982.50 | 0.5% | |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| gpt-5.6-terra | OpenAI | $512.50 | $1,125.00 | $1,637.50 | 0.5% |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Anthropic | $615.00 | $1,125.00 | $1,740.00 | 0.5% |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $1,025.00 | $1,875.00 | $2,900.00 | 0.5% |
| gpt-5.6-sol | OpenAI | $1,025.00 | $2,250.00 | $3,275.00 | 0.5% |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $2,500.00 | $3,750.00 | $6,250.00 | 0.5% |
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
OpenAI model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-13
Tracked prices for included OpenAI models are checked against official provider documentation.
Anthropic model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-12
Tracked prices for included Anthropic models are checked against official provider documentation.
Google model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-14
Tracked prices for included Google models are checked against official provider documentation.
DeepSeek model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-12
Tracked prices for included DeepSeek models are checked against official provider documentation.
Anthropic model pricingHigh confidenceChecked 2026-07-14
Tracked prices for included Anthropic models are checked against official provider documentation.