Four spec-driven coding tools, same one-line task: 4 minutes vs 2 hours
SSShken · reddit · 2026-09-20
The author cloned one real TypeScript/Express/SQLite/React repo four times and gave each spec-driven tool the identical one-sentence feature (drag a task between day columns), hand-measuring everything.
- All four shipped correctly with zero manual fixes; all read the code first, none touched the already-working PATCH route or invented endpoints
- Differences were elsewhere: 13/24/29 task lists (one wrote none), wall clock 4m26s / 9m40s / 36m5s / 2h11m
- One tool added 3 dev deps after asking, another added 7 unasked; two left test data in the DB; one committed straight to main; one cost 84 'Allow' clicks
- The missing control: plain Claude Code with no workflow — the run that shows whether the spec layer is worth anything
Related event: Same prompt, four spec-driven coding tools: 4 minutes to 2 hours(2 posts)→
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