In your opinion, what is the most economical yet reliable AI model for everyday code development, i.e., for tasks that are not too difficult?
I look forward to hearing your opinions based on your experiences.
GPT models for sure until sonnet 5 comes out
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Cost-wise for me:
For coding stuff - Grok code fast 1 (was free, but now paid, but still the cheapest option)
For asking questions about the codebase - Gemini 2.5 Flash (yes its still a great cheap option available)
For planning - No cheap model here, but Opus 4.5 thinking and GPT-5.2-xhigh are great candidates. Although you can try GPT 5.2 or Gemini 3 flash also, they are okayish and cheaper than the big boys.
For more model pricing check here: Models | Cursor Docs (sort the output column ascending)
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Grok Code does the job and is dirt-cheap.
It still requires well-defined tasks that do not contain too many steps. But for any “implement UI component” or “create ansible role” it is all you need. The same is true for following detailed plans or cloning existing patterns.
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Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that Grok Code makes beginner mistakes even on simple code. I think I’ll stick with Sonnet 4.5, which is quite expensive but at least doesn’t make any major mistakes.