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Yes, a lot of usage, I’d guess top 10% among my peers. I do 6-10hrs of constant iterating across mid-size codebases of 750k tokens. CC is set to use Opus by def

by e1g 1y ago

Yes, a lot of usage, I’d guess top 10% among my peers. I do 6-10hrs of constant iterating across mid-size codebases of 750k tokens. CC is set to use Opus by default, which further drives up costs. Estimating productivity gains is a flame war I don’t want to start, but as a signal: if the CC Max plan goes up 10x in price, I’m still keeping my subscription. I maintain top-tier subscription to every frontier service (~$1k/mo) and throughout the week spend multiple hours with each of Cursor, Amp, Augment, Windsurf, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, but keep on defaulting to Claude Code.

jonstewart 1y ago
I am curious what kind of development you’re doing and where your projects fall on the fast iteration<->correctness curve (no judgment). I’ve used CC Pro for a few weeks now and I will keep it, it’s fantastically useful for some things, but it has wasted more of my time than it saved when I’ve experimented with giving it harder tasks.
- brailsafe 1y ago
  It's interesting to work with a number of people using various models and interaction modes in slightly different capacities. I can see where the huge productivity gains are and can feel them, but the same is true for the opposite. I'm pretty sure I lost a full day or more trying to track down a build error because it was relatively trivial fpr someone to ask CC or something to refactor a ton of files, which it seems to have done a bit too eagerly. On the other hand, that refactor would have been super tedious, so maybe worth it?
mark_l_watson 1y ago
Mostly to save money (I am retired) I mostly use Gemini APIs. I used to also use good open weight models on groq.com, but life is simpler just using Gemini. Ultimately, my not using the best tools for my personal research projects has zero effect on the world but I am still very curious what elite developers with the best tools can accomplish, and what capability I am ‘leaving on the table.’
foolishgame 1y ago
I am curious what kind of code development you are doing with so many subscriptions? Are you doing front end backend full stack or model development itself? Are you destilling models for training your own? I have never heard someone using so much subscription? Is this for your full time job or startup? Why not use qwen or deep seek and host it yourself? I am impressed with what you are doing.
- e1g 1y ago
  I’m a founder/CTO of an enterprise SaaS, and I code everything from data modeling, to algos, backend integrations, frontend architecture, UI widgets, etc. All in TypeScript, which is perfectly suited to LLMs because we can fit the types and repo map into context without loading all code. As to “why”: I’ve been coding for 25 years, and LLMs is the first technology that has a non-linear impact on my output. It’s simultaneously moronic and jaw-dropping. I’m good at what I do (eg, merged fixes into Node) and Claude/o3 regularly finds material edge cases in my code that I was confident in. Then they add a test case (as per our style), write a fix, and update docs/examples within two minutes. I love coding and the art&craft of software development. I’ve written millions of lines of revenue generating code, and made millions doing it. If someone forced me to stop using LLMs in my production process, I’d quit on the spot. Why not self host: open source models are a generation behind SOTA. R1 is just not in the same league as the pro commercial models.
  - atonse 1y ago
    > If someone forced me to stop using LLMs in my production process, I’d quit on the spot. Yup 100% agree. I’d rather try to convince them of the benefits than go back to what feels like an unnecessarily inefficient process of writing all code by hand again. And I’ve got 25+ years of solid coding experience. Never going back.
  - ineedasername 1y ago
    When you say generation behind, can you give a sense of what that means in functionality per your current use? Slower/lower quality, it would take more iterations to get what you want?
jhickok 1y ago
Thank you for your perspective. I’ve been staring at Claude Code for a bit and I think I will just pull the trigger.
- SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
  It’s a wild frontier, but as a recent convert to CC, I would say go for it. It’s so stupid fast to get running that you aren’t out anything if you don’t like it. There was no way I was going to switch to a different IDE.

by e1g 1y ago

jonstewart 1y ago

I am curious what kind of development you’re doing and where your projects fall on the fast iteration<->correctness curve (no judgment). I’ve used CC Pro for a few weeks now and I will keep it, it’s fantastically useful for some things, but it has wasted more of my time than it saved when I’ve experimented with giving it harder tasks.

brailsafe 1y ago
It's interesting to work with a number of people using various models and interaction modes in slightly different capacities. I can see where the huge productivity gains are and can feel them, but the same is true for the opposite. I'm pretty sure I lost a full day or more trying to track down a build error because it was relatively trivial fpr someone to ask CC or something to refactor a ton of files, which it seems to have done a bit too eagerly. On the other hand, that refactor would have been super tedious, so maybe worth it?

mark_l_watson 1y ago

Mostly to save money (I am retired) I mostly use Gemini APIs. I used to also use good open weight models on groq.com, but life is simpler just using Gemini. Ultimately, my not using the best tools for my personal research projects has zero effect on the world but I am still very curious what elite developers with the best tools can accomplish, and what capability I am ‘leaving on the table.’

foolishgame 1y ago

I am curious what kind of code development you are doing with so many subscriptions? Are you doing front end backend full stack or model development itself? Are you destilling models for training your own? I have never heard someone using so much subscription? Is this for your full time job or startup? Why not use qwen or deep seek and host it yourself? I am impressed with what you are doing.

e1g 1y ago
I’m a founder/CTO of an enterprise SaaS, and I code everything from data modeling, to algos, backend integrations, frontend architecture, UI widgets, etc. All in TypeScript, which is perfectly suited to LLMs because we can fit the types and repo map into context without loading all code. As to “why”: I’ve been coding for 25 years, and LLMs is the first technology that has a non-linear impact on my output. It’s simultaneously moronic and jaw-dropping. I’m good at what I do (eg, merged fixes into Node) and Claude/o3 regularly finds material edge cases in my code that I was confident in. Then they add a test case (as per our style), write a fix, and update docs/examples within two minutes. I love coding and the art&craft of software development. I’ve written millions of lines of revenue generating code, and made millions doing it. If someone forced me to stop using LLMs in my production process, I’d quit on the spot. Why not self host: open source models are a generation behind SOTA. R1 is just not in the same league as the pro commercial models.
- atonse 1y ago
  > If someone forced me to stop using LLMs in my production process, I’d quit on the spot. Yup 100% agree. I’d rather try to convince them of the benefits than go back to what feels like an unnecessarily inefficient process of writing all code by hand again. And I’ve got 25+ years of solid coding experience. Never going back.
- ineedasername 1y ago
  When you say generation behind, can you give a sense of what that means in functionality per your current use? Slower/lower quality, it would take more iterations to get what you want?

jhickok 1y ago

Thank you for your perspective. I’ve been staring at Claude Code for a bit and I think I will just pull the trigger.

SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
It’s a wild frontier, but as a recent convert to CC, I would say go for it. It’s so stupid fast to get running that you aren’t out anything if you don’t like it. There was no way I was going to switch to a different IDE.