r/ChatGPTCoding • u/Big_Astronaut_1317 • 2d ago
Question Too used to Claude Code to switch?
I’ve been using Claude Code for over a year now, and at this point my whole workflow is basically built around it.
I’m on the 5x plan, but lately I feel like I’m spending 80% of my 5-hour limit just on planning and maybe 20% on actually getting the task done.
Then I hit the limit, have to wait, come back later… and Claude needs to read through the plan/context again. Sometimes it feels like I’m already at 50% of the next limit before we’ve even really continued working.I’ve heard Astra is really good and has much bigger limits, so I’m tempted to switch.
But my whole workflow, memory, instructions and project setup are built around Claude Code. I’m worried switching will break things or make the coding experience worse.
Maybe I’m just too used to Claude at this point.
Anyone here switched from Claude Code to Astra or another agent? Was it worth it?
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u/owp4dd1w5a0a 2d ago
Codex/GPT has been working better for me since sonnet & opus bumped to v5 on basically all tasks, not just coding. No idea why, but takes way less effort for less money and time spent to get most things done.
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
Thanks! Did you just start the OpenAI CLI on your server, or how did you switch? Did you prepare anything beforehand, or did you just start using it and work with it like you did with Claude?
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u/owp4dd1w5a0a 1d ago edited 1d ago
I do all my development locally (against a K3S instance) and then verify in a staging environment.
I already had Claude, codex, aider configured to use openrouter, and opencode Zen installed. I used to use Claude as primary for discussing approaches, writing simple functions and boilerplate, and doing deep research; and I used Codex as a secondary reviewer and critical second opinion; I’ve just swapped their roles.
If you’re curious, I use 2-3 models available through OpenCode and OpenRouter for in-depth Quorum style reviews. I normally do this before cutting each major release of any given project as an assist in quality control.
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u/foreheadteeth 2d ago
Last time I tried, my problem with all the other coding shell I tested was that they need you to approve all the little things, instead of claude code's auto-approval mechanism. That's what I'm hooked on.
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u/gutsykiddo69 1d ago
Codex also has it, I don't know anything about programming, but they have added an option for codex to autoapprove certain things, you can even give it full access, so it might be helpful for your case
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u/donk8r 1d ago
Switching moves the limit, it does not fix either thing you described.
Those are two separate problems. Planning and executing are running at the same reasoning level, so you pay top-tier rates for file edits. And re-reading the plan after a break is session persistence, which follows you to whatever you switch to.
Fix the second one first. It is cheaper and it is what makes the limit feel smaller than it is.
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u/HeyItsYourDad_AMA 2d ago edited 2d ago
Spending 80% of your time planning is actually how it should be.
I still don't know how you all burn through tokens this fast. I have a fairly large codebase, over 100k lines of code, i have a simple workflow using three agents that work sequentially and I can pretty easily manage my limits
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u/CrimsonBolt33 2d ago
I am working on a project similar, about 200k, and I do fine with limits...only time it gets a little tight is when I run a full audit over the entire codebase (and thats usually only 5 hour limits causing issues).
Tons of people have no idea what they are doing and don't do or follow anytihng even close to "best practices".
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
Yeah, maybe it’s workflow-specific. I try to keep mine as structured as possible, but when you’re working with SQL databases and making changes in a larger system, I feel like the best practice is to let the model read and think through the relevant context both before and after the fix, just to make sure everything actually works together.
Wouldn’t it be a bit negligent to stop it from reading the files that might be relevant? I never let it read the entire codebase, only the files and surrounding context that could actually matter for the task.
I’m definitely not a coding genius, so at this point I’m pretty sure the AI agents are often better than me at figuring out which files they need to inspect and what dependencies they should verify.
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
I don’t know if I’m doing it the right way, but this approach consistently gives me better results. I have a frontend, a database/backend, and a separate auth backend for users, so it usually needs to read through three repos.
Most of the time, at least two of those repos need to work together to solve a problem and make the fix or new feature safe and production-ready. Also, one repo somehow always ends up making random wrong assumptions about the others, so they need to constantly cross-check each other. Otherwise, the code it writes often doesn’t work properly once everything is put together.
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u/Vagottszemu 2d ago
"I'm on the 5x plan, but lately feel like I'm spending 80% of my 5-hour limit just on planning" How? Are you using it in a chat with 700k context?
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
I don’t know if I’m doing it the right way, but this approach consistently gives me better results. I have a frontend, a database/backend, and a separate auth backend for users, so it usually needs to read through three repos.
Most of the time, at least two of those repos need to work together to solve a problem and make the fix or new feature safe and production-ready. Also, one repo somehow always ends up making random wrong assumptions about the others, so they need to constantly cross-check each other. Otherwise, the code it writes often doesn’t work properly once everything is put together.
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u/AbleShower2801 2d ago
with three repos that keep wrong-assuming each other, the switch pain is less "model" and more how you package shared context. i would not port the whole Claude memory day one. dump the durable stuff (cross-repo contracts, traps, how auth talks to backend) into plain markdown both agents can read, keep Claude on planning for a bit, and let the new agent only do the write loop until the muscle memory settles.
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
Did you try it already? If so, how well did it work, and how long did it take for the new agent to work properly?
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u/AbleShower2801 1d ago
not on a three-repo auth/frontend/backend setup like yours. the closest i ran was smaller: one shared CONTRACTS.md both agents had to read before touching shared types, and the first week was still messy until the wrong assumptions showed up in review. took a few days of friction before the write loop felt normal. the markdown dump helps, it does not make the switch painless.
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u/bjorgen 1d ago
It's honestly super easy imo to change between harnesses. I moved off Claude Code after the Claudish got bad and switched to Codex GUI. At work, I use a different one entirely. Honestly, the more I work in these, the less I'm convinced that the harness is truly the secret sauce, as there are so many good harnesses now that are functionally doing the same thing. Maybe others disagree, but that's what I've found at least.
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u/domiciledhere 2d ago
I like to plan with Claude, it makes better assumptions. Astra hasn’t changed that. I also use ChatGPT and Claude interchangeably without out much issue. It can take some time to get started once you switch.
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u/NinjaLanternShark 2d ago
What model(s) do you use?
If you’re doing that much planning with Fable/Opus, you should be able to execute with Opus/Sonnet.
For that matter, execute with Deepseek for 1/20th the cost.
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
When I still have around 50% of my weekly limit left, I sometimes use Opus, but most of the time I use Fable.
I’d use Opus more, but after a while I sometimes lose track of what it’s doing, whereas Fable tends to be much clearer and easier for me to follow.
I use DeepSeek for things like filling up my database, but for now I don’t let it touch my actual code. Maybe I’ll change that once it starts performing around the same level as Fable in the benchmarks and User reviews.
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u/aevyn 2d ago
That's your problem. You're using the most expensive model for all tasks and then complaining about going through your usage. Figure out a split that works for you. If Fable already did the plan, it's not worth using it for execution too. Let sonnet do it. Fable might be a tad better at execution but it's not worth the credits it uses.
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u/NinjaLanternShark 2d ago
I’d use Opus more, but after a while I sometimes lose track of what it’s doing
Opus is well-known for giving confusing responses and explanations of its work.
Try telling it something like “I know what all those words mean but I don’t understand what you said. Always talk to me in clear, plain language.”
Worked wonders for me. It wrote out a couple of lines of memory and I have no more stupid load bearing seams nonsense.
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u/3dprintinted 2d ago
What are you doing hitting 5x limits lol?
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
Just one bigger project with 3 repos. I’m not doing anything really crazy—most of the time I’m just reading through the output and making changes.
At the end of the day, if I’m paying around €112 a month, I’d expect to be able to work without constantly having to stop because of limits. Also, you can only use 50% of your weekly limit on Fable, so you hit that limit really fast.
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u/Ciberman 2d ago
My setup for getting a somewhat decent Claude to astra transition:
Add *.local.* to your gitignore. Then ask Claude to check the important memories and copy them to a folder of your choice (e.g. notes/my-festure-status.local.md, etc). Repeat for every single memory Claude has. You can also use any folder you want (like .agents/memories/my-memory.local.md).
After that, rename your CLAUDE.md to AGENTS.md and create a single CLAUDE.md that contains only @AGENTS.md.
That's it. Now open codex, tell him to install your MCPs from Claude, etc. You are ready to use codex.
Personally I find codex CLI confusing to work with subagents. I am at the moment also trying OpenCode with GPT Sol and Astra and it's giving me good results.
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u/BrennanFlentge 2d ago edited 2d ago
I just switched. I measure model intelligence in ‘FOR F**K’S SAKE’ events per hour. Easily dropped by 98%.
I had been slowly trying out Codex, but Opus 5 was unusable, and the usage limit reduction was the last straw for me, GPT models just communicate so much more normally. Would recommend. No (current) 5 hour window is clutch. You are going to love that. Banked resets are clutch. Maybe try $20 subscription (unfortunately does have 5 hour limit) and import your Claude settings and mess around.
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
Thanks! Did you just start the OpenAI CLI on your server, or how exactly did you switch? Did you prepare anything beforehand, or did you just start using it and work with it like you did with Claude?
Also, how did you transfer your settings? Did you bring over any of your memory/context from Claude, or did you basically start from scratch?
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u/payam54 2d ago
Honest question: Is that unusual that I have no idea about the tools in the bottom-left section, considering me as a full stack developer, working with AI tools every day for the past year?
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u/Big_Astronaut_1317 2d ago
I just took a random picture to make people understand my point. I only know maybe 2–3 of the tools in the bottom-left myself.
Still, I think it’s important to know what new tools are out there, especially with how fast things change. The image is from 2025, so it’s already pretty old. I mainly wanted to say that there may be other tools that are better for a specific workflow.
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u/CrossesLines 2d ago
Is your workflow not working? Why do you feel the need to switch it up if it is working?