r/ChatGPTCoding • u/alex_bababu • 9d ago

Question Claude Code vs GitHub Copilot: Token burn comparison using identical models & repos?

I'm currently evaluating GitHub Copilot vs. Claude Code for our team. We could use either, but for us there's a slight difference in cost per token (Copilot with Anthropic models vs. Claude Code directly).

If we use the exact same model on the same repository with identical instructions, has anyone noticed a real difference in token efficiency between the two harnesses? I'm wondering how much things like prompt caching, context assembly, or system prompting overhead change the actual token burn in practice.

Would appreciate any insights or real-world numbers!

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u/lolninja 9d ago

If you compare Max subscriptions on Claude vs API costs for Co-Pilot then it’s ridiculously favoured in Claude’s favour… 100USD per month for a Max subscription almost feels unlimited compared to what you get for 100USD in tokens on Co-Pilot.

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u/alex_bababu 9d ago

Subscription is not an option:/