Astra costs ~$1.49/M tokens for this dev's coding — but is it good enough to be the default?
notchillatall · reddit · 2026-09-05
A developer working on coding-agent usage tracking estimates his early Astra usage at about $1.49 per million tokens at API-equivalent rates including cache mix. He argues the real question isn't token price but outcomes: did it finish tasks the previous model couldn't, reduce correction time, and stay in scope?
He lacks a controlled comparison and plans to run both models from the same repository state with identical tasks and acceptance criteria, counting follow-up corrections, review time, and test passes — more signal than a first impression. He asks whether others have made Astra their default coding model, and what task convinced them.
Related event: Astra's high price offset by exceptional token efficiency, users find(3 posts)→
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