Opus planning with local Qwen coding cuts cost but slows builds
AI summary
Reddit user u/GapNew4766 built the same five-level pixel platformer twice on a MacBook Pro M5 Max using Atomic Agent. In the self-reported runs, Opus 5.5 alone cost $2.52 and took 16 minutes, while Atomic Fusion used Opus 5.5 for planning and review with three local Qwen 3.8 27B workers, cost $0.62 in cloud usage and took 42 minutes; both games passed nearly the same checklist, at 25/25 and 24/25.
In-depth insight
The report offers a concrete cost-versus-time comparison for a hybrid cloud-and-local AI coding workflow, but each mode was tested only once and the figures were not independently replicated.
| most of my Opus bill is output tokens, Opus typing out every line of code. so I tried keeping Opus for the thinking and moving the typing to a local model the job: a 5-level pixel platformer from one spec, built twice on a MacBook Pro M5 Max in Fusion mode on Atomic Agent both games work: 5 levels, boss, win screen. Opus wrote 8x less, the cloud bill was 75% lower, and it took more than twice as long because the 3 workers share one GPU. so for me it's simple. need it in 15 minutes, Opus alone. big job that splits into parts and can wait, let Opus plan and review and let the local model type. one run per mode, cloud cost only. would you wait 2.5x longer for a 4x smaller bill, or is speed worth it for you? submitted by /u/GapNew4766 [link] [comments] |
#Atomic Agent#Atomic Fusion#Opus 5.5#Qwen 3.8 27B#MacBook Pro M5 Max