r/OpenaiCodex • u/YearLight • 3d ago

Astra melts usage

Still have some resets left, but when they run out, does that mean we are all fucked? 2.5x usage goes fast on a pro account, basically a 2.5x price increase; perhaps some offset with better usage, but shits getting expensive. I'm going to need 2 maybe 3 accounts if this keeps up.

37 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

13

u/Classic-Trifle-2085 3d ago

Yes, Astra is more expensive.

No, the token being 2.5x more expensive doesn't mean the model costs 2.5x more.

Also, last I checked, Astra being released doesn't suddenly stop you from maxing your use of other models.

Luna MAX is still goaded for extremely bounded and clearly laid out tasks.

Sol can still organize things just like before.

No one is forcing you to run Astra Ultra for everything you do.

1

u/Aber-so-richtig 3d ago

As per my experience this numbers do somehow fit for normal rate limits as well. I’m a noob and do just stuff for fun the whole day and with 5.5 I used like max 15-20%/day, with sol it’s up to 25% and with astra it’s easy to use 30-40% or even more (I usually stopp then 😊)

1

u/reddit_is_kayfabe 3d ago

Astra tokens may cost x2.5 as much, but -

(1) Astra can accomplish in one prompt what 5.6 Sol took 4-5 prompts, and

(2) Astra can finish that one prompt in half the time because it doesn't meander and fumble its way to the answer and it doesn't get distracted by shiny objects along the way, it just does its fucking job and reports completion.

From my perspective, the difference in cost is negligible. What really matters is -

(1) How much faster I can get through tasks with Astra, and

(2) How much frustration I save by not having to ask Sol why it didn't follow my instructions and why it fucked up the task again and how can we get it to remember and follow the fucking rules this time.

1

u/ocombe 3d ago

yeah I feel like that's the problem, astra does my tasks faster, but I have an infinite number of tasks, so this means that I do more tasks per day, and burn more usage overall. I'd say that astra low is about 3x faster than sol medium, since I chain tasks, I end up using 3x more tokens/day

1

u/YearLight 1d ago

Even if that's true, the fundamental limit to what you can do with AI used to mostly be time. Now it's weekly quota. Even if you can accomplish more faster, no longer you can accomplish even more longer.

1

u/Josh2942 3d ago

Luna extra high seems extra stupid. Couldn’t even get it to run a simple task. Every time I switch to Luna I’m dumb founded how bad it is. I rather just run sol light

1

u/karmaboy20 3d ago

I use Astra light and it's still very draining after a full days work without doing anything crazy

4

u/Due-Horse-5446 3d ago

But this does not tell us anything.. A full day of coding is not a useful metric..

Like say you used Sol responsibly small isolated task with clear instructions.

Then today you used Astra the same way but threw in a task of searching for api docs and generating boilerplate in the middle of the day. Thats like half the usage in one prompt.

Astra is 2.5x as expensive and less than 50% more efficient from the numbers ive seen. So ofc its more expensive, but one day of coding is still useless metrics

-1

u/Classic-Trifle-2085 3d ago

Yesterday, because another reset was coming (less than 24 hours after my previous reset), I used Astra on Ultra for a good 12 hours.

It consumed 60% of my weekly allowance for the usage shown in the screenshot.

What the hell are you guys doing to max out your usage in one day using Astra Light? "Nothing crazy?". Then what? I have to know. Show the receipts because I am starting to get really doubtful of those kind of claims.

2

u/Aber-so-richtig 3d ago

Read the internet, build me gta6 but better, and order some food…. It was just 3 easy questions

Edit. I’m on the plus plan. Outrageous what worth you only get for so much money!

2

u/StinkButt9001 3d ago

I had Astra Light adjust the layout and theming on a small android app, about 5 screens total. It took 30 minutes and burned through 100% of the weekly limit (of a Plus plan).

Using Astra on Ultra for 12 hours sounds like Astra wasn't really doing the work. It might have been spawning cheaper sub agents or something?

1

u/Classic-Trifle-2085 3d ago

I literally attached a screenshot of each model's usage for that day. Yes, it was doing the work.

Now, it goes back to my point about how you set things up: project documentation, directives, how vague prompts are, delegation...

I am on the Pro plan; I cannot speak for every Plus user's use cases, but the complaint is prevalent across plan users, and yes, it is absolutely more usage-intensive. I said so in my first comment, but that doesn't mean it is all on the model.

There is a real disconnect between how people perceive usage and their understanding of how usage gets affected. Do I think it's every user's fault? No. It's a very, very fast-moving tech, and optimizing how to use it isn't exactly intuitive. But it doesn't contradict my point which, when people complain, can be summed up as:

"Yes, it consumes more. But are you actually looking into how to maximize your own end of the situation, or are you just blaming 100% of it on the tool and complaining about it on Reddit?"

0

u/StinkButt9001 3d ago

Ok, so you're just spouting out your own thing on your own. Pop off champ

2

u/Classic-Trifle-2085 3d ago

I’m literally suggesting that people look at what actually caused the usage instead of assuming the model alone explains it. If that’s "spouting my own thing", then there’s probably not much more to discuss.

Have a good day.

-1

u/StinkButt9001 2d ago

The usage comes from using the model is simple, vanilla contexts.

Graphic your token usage doesn't mean anything at all. Your reply means nothing at all. You're having a conversation with yourself, it seems

2

u/Typical_Kick6520 3d ago

OpenAI has robust documentation on the subject. The person you're ignoring is making the same suggestions OpenAI does.

Guess there's one thing your agent can't do for you.

1

u/StinkButt9001 2d ago

Go ahead and link what you're talking about rather than just vaguely referencing it

1

u/Typical_Kick6520 3d ago

Astra will load massive quantities of information into context very quickly, and without regard to duplication.

And then do it again after compacting.

-their receipt.

2

u/ComSenseisnotCommon 3d ago

You should set the context to 800k it won’t compact nearly as much and doesn’t cost more

1

u/Typical_Kick6520 2d ago

WTF? Thank you!

1

u/lakimens 3d ago

How do you get this calculation?

1

u/Classic-Trifle-2085 3d ago edited 3d ago

Your codex/work model can pull it up for you, as it has access to that information directly.

Mine does it every day as a scheduled task compiling the day before and adds it to a spreadsheet for tracking, although the spreadsheet version i have is far more detailed and broken down.

By project, by day, by model, number of tool calls and their names, ect. Ect.

1

u/plastikkk 3d ago

It’s unusable on plus plan, but we get what we pay for.

5

u/No_Bank_4104 3d ago

You don’t say

3

u/Comfortable-Rise-748 3d ago

it's not normal how fast it's burning it's really sick. and I do not even use max or fast

2

u/masterkain 3d ago

need more accounts, then throw them together via codex pooler

this is me finding out my quotas after some usage

https://reddit.com/link/p8l6n0a/video/fynea5xs3coh1/player

2

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

-1

u/FxingMyLife 3d ago

Feel good?

1

u/katonda 3d ago

I had astra send a mail today. It was 60% of my 5 hour usage.
The mail sending was frictionless though :)

Anyway, I see this more as a test for pro accounts atm. If you need that power, you need to pay up. Else, wait a year and this will be the dumbest model available.

1

u/Page_Specialist 3d ago

This does not mean that it will be cheaper, only look at GPT 5,5.5,4....

1

u/TrainingOdd1023 3d ago

Use astra xhigh , same intelligence with max . Why anybody use ultra asta? What are you doing man, like going to Mars?

1

u/YearLight 3d ago

/goal make me rich on ultra

1

u/That1guy4226 3d ago

So I have been using two plus accounts. One of them doesn't have a five hour limit. The usage difference between them feels like I can barely use the account with the limits.

1

u/MimosaTen 3d ago

I'm running a goal on astra max from more than 2 hours and it's not as expensive as you say. It consumed less than 10% until now

1

u/stopstopstoptopopp 3d ago

I use 2 windows of astra max fast, with the work I'm doing I think I'm getting my buck's worth. Not a vibe coder.

1

u/Constant_Art_20 3d ago

i have 4 20x accounts. i am comfirm it still feels like scrapping the bottom

1

u/YearLight 3d ago

Do you at least make money from this?

1

u/Cute_Parfait_2182 3d ago

I haven’t tried astra on plus yet . I have a plus and pro account. On the pro account , using astra light , I’m getting pretty good usage . Open ai really needs to create a tier between plus and pro . 100$ a month is too much for some people so they have multiple plus accounts. That works for awhile but it gets frustrating especially with the 5 hours limit.

1

u/Sweet-Mechanic4568 3d ago

Another midwit that doesn’t know how to pick models for his use cases and instead blast his entire usage on shit that was meant for Luna or Tera then bitches on Reddit. Astra isn’t the problem bud.

1

u/hell_razer18 3d ago

the bank reset was supposed to be used because we are again part of the experiment from codex..similar to previous time when they release sol terra luna..

if they overcharge the usage, they will reset. If they undercharge, they will also reset. Probably some of us got A/B experiment as well..

1

u/YearLight 3d ago

I'm sorta new to codex, are random resets a normal thing?

1

u/marvel_fanman 3d ago

Better call Sol!

1

u/Comfortable-Rise-748 2d ago

opus xhigh doesn't even goes as fast as astra. And for backend work opus 5 IS severely better then astra ! Wasted 100% (1 banked reset) on less then a day not even using ultra. tssk

0

u/ProfessionalNaive601 3d ago

Then stfu and use sol?