7 models across Claude Code, Codex, Pi: harness choice drives cost, not success

matei_zaharia · x · 2026-09-17

Melissa Pan's team evaluated 7 models on Claude Code, Codex, and Pi coding-agent harnesses, with three surprising findings: (1) harness choice has little effect on task success rate but significantly affects cost; (2) a simple harness can be competitive; (3) the native harness isn't always the best. Millions use coding agents, yet harness impact was previously unclear — full details in the thread.

Related event: Benchmarks Across 3 Harnesses: Little Success-Rate Impact, Big Cost Differences(2 posts)→

Original post →

More from coding & agent

coding & agent channel →