I spent $788 on an AI coding agent in one day. Here's the breakdown.

I left an AI coding agent running for one day. Then I read the invoice. $788. In about 13...

sabato 13 giugno 2026 New tab

TL;DRAI

AI coding agent cost $788 in 24h, with default model consuming 78% despite cheaper options delivering equal work at 1/360th price. Smart routing—cheap models for routine tasks, expensive for reasoning—cuts daily agentic costs from thousands to tens of dollars.

489 words~2 min read

I left an AI coding agent running for one day. Then I read the invoice.

$788. In about 13 hours.

I'm posting the real breakdown because I think a lot of people are quietly running up this kind of bill without seeing where it goes — and the fix is boring and effective.

The receipt

One day, 10:21–23:05. 11 sessions, 3,572 API calls across 4 models:

I spent $788 on an AI coding agent in one day. Here's the breakdown.

I spent $788 on an AI coding agent in one day. Here's the breakdown.

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I Tracked Every Penny I Spent on AI APIs for a Month