Tested 3 Claude Code plugins to reduce costs: Here is what worked
Marmelab · reddit · 2026-08-31
The author tested 3 plugins to cut token costs in a multi-agent CRM builder setup:
- Ponytail (Best): Forces a checklist before coding to find the simplest solution. Cut generated code by 50% and reduced costs.
- Caveman: Removes filler, cutting output tokens by 65%. However, extra instruction overhead outweighed savings in code loops; better for chat.
- Headroom (Worst): Compresses context. Token mode reduced cache reads but destroyed prefixes, triggering expensive writes. Cache mode didn't compress.
Takeaway: Fewer tokens don't always mean lower costs with prompt caching.
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