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For coding use cases, it really isn't.

DS4.1 flash is $0.30 in / $1.20 out (per M, peak, cache miss) Opus 5.5 is $4.00 in / $20 out (per M, cache miss)

However, that is API prices.

Anthropic offers a $200/mo subscription. How this translates into usage is admittedly a bit opaque, subject to change, and depends on how exactly you use it. But it's a lot of usage - Semianalysis data shows that $200 is getting you around $2,500 of usage at API rates if you use Opus 5.5. This is close to what I'm seeing anecdotally with my accounts, if anything I have been getting a bit more.

Now, unlike DeepSeek, you can't use your subscriptions to power live AI-driven products, or resell tokens in any way. But for personal coding agents, you can use as many of these subscriptions as you want, for now. So I am paying effectively basically 8% of the published API rates, so at my usage:

DSv4.1: $0.30 in/ $1.20 out Opus 5.5: $0.32 in / $1.60 out

Obviously, those aren't real prices, but they accurately convey apples to apples what my everyday usage costs me and most other heavy users, and why it's so easy for me to stick with Anthropic/OpenAI.

I don't think it's a coincidence, either - I think the token allowances for these subscriptions are set to be competitive with the open models, so that most coding users (and their incredibly valuable data) stay with the frontier labs, while VC-funded wrapper companies and less-price-sensitive giant companies with strict procurement policies pay exorbitant markups for enterprise contracts at the API rate.

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Locked into their tools though. I happen to be very tied to a IDE centric model (old dog can't learn new tricks) and their Desktop thing is a regression for me. I can use the cli, but it wrecks the muscle memory I have with what I use now.

And Anthropic is somewhat unusual in that 10x more tokens via the subsidized path. I imagine more rugpulls are coming.

Not disputing your point in any way, just noting there's already caveats, and more are likely coming.

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Not by cost per task, just cost per token. But they're spending way more tokens per task, so it doesn't work in their facor.

I still use them because they aren't as squeamish about random things American CEOs don't like like decompilation.

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> Not by cost per task, just cost per token. But they're spending way more tokens per task, so it doesn't work in their facor.

They are not most expensive per Task. DeepSeek 4.1 flash is bloody efficient.

I currently did run a test myself: - Use the pay as you go offer on OpenRouter on the same task on two different project: Perf optimisation on C++ codebase both with Anthropic and DeepSeek.

- I exploded my 15$ budget in a half-week with Anthropic.

- I did two weeks and half with DeepSeek.

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