Timelines · build costs
Cost reports over time.
59 spend reports from builders, by the date they were posted. Amounts are as stated in each post; see the costs page for ranges.
October 2026 9 reports
- OpenCode · $0.00 paid
3D BMW M5, 76K tokens@zazzy_stardust ↗ - Cursor · $60 paid
Prior setup (plus X Premium+ $40)@HandsomeHank_ ↗ - Claude Code · $7.67 vs $3.46 per task excluded
Per-task eval comparison, Sonnet 5.5 max vs Opus 5.5 xhigh@Vladic_ETH ↗ - · $14 vs $1 excluded
Same revenue-forecast coding job@victor_zhng ↗ - OpenCode · $0 excluded
Ran locally@pengsonal ↗ - Emergent · starts at $20 a month excluded
Plan price mention@fayzonnn ↗ - Claude Code · 332M tokens, $178 at API prices (+$3.05 concept art) api_equivalent
Playable 3D street RPG (Unity), 11 hours of agent timeYana Lialuke (thehype) ↗ - · flat $18/mo excluded
Plan mention@mzulfaas ↗ - · $0.49 excluded
Working AI agent in 1.5 hours (Pieni)@KuittinenPetri ↗
September 2026 14 reports
- · about $0.30 per booking call excluded
Voice booking agent, running cost@Sumanth_077 ↗ - Claude Code · $415 excluded
30–45 parallel Opus 5.5 agents; 1.2B tokens@MiaAI_lab ↗ - Claude Code · $100 paid
Over 30 days: evpick, Thumb & Pylon and another app@julienrenaux ↗ - Claude Code · $875.68 equivalent API price for 43.8M output tokens api_equivalent
3D Plants vs Zombies 2 clone in the browser (unfinished)u/Fun-Meaning-6474 ↗ - Claude Code · $25.66 in API costs paid
Interactive 3D lens lab (86 minutes)@SinaEstavi (about @RyanSael) ↗ - GitHub Copilot · $100/mo (projected $800/mo) paid
Ongoing dev usage before the June 1, 2026 pricing change@imkindingyou ↗ - OpenAI Codex · $200/mo paid
Moved over from Copilot@imkindingyou ↗ - Cursor · $200/month paid
Grok 4.6 usage@DillonLoomis ↗ - Cursor · $737 on Cursor + $143 other AI over 4 months ($1,131 incl. infra) paid
B2B SaaS (Next.js, Supabase, Stripe), ~18k linesShahrukh (PromptSpace) ↗ - Muse Code · 5 cents paid
Whole build (vs. competing agent)@GeorgeMayer ↗ - · less than $0.25 paid
One-shot Minecraft clone in 11 minutes@bridgemindai ↗ - Claude Code · roughly $2,755 metered at API-equivalent prices (ccusage) api_equivalent
Thumb & Pylon, tower-defense game for iOS and AndroidJulien Renaux ↗ - OpenAI Codex · $200 paid
Main coding setup@shydev69 ↗ - Claude Code · $20 paid
Landing page redesign; 21% of weekly limit used in 49 min@shownotover ↗
August 2026 7 reports
- GitHub Copilot · $10 plan paid
PR reviews via opencode@MrPunyapal ↗ - Replit · $42 excluded
Million Dollar Homepage clone; '$42 on a slot' is ambiguous@MakerThrive ↗ - Factory · $1.60 vs Claude Code $1.87 excluded
Vendor comparison run@FactoryAI ↗ - Claude Code · $150 (vs $2 DeepSeek) excluded
Same task on two harnesses@quxiaoyin ↗ - OpenAI Codex · $160 gone from one overnight task paid
One overnight Codex taskunknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗ - · $0 in API consumption paid
AAA-level website in under a day, run locally@DanielMuvdiYT ↗ - OpenAI Codex · Total API bill: $3.02 (661M tokens) + ChatGPT Plus $20/mo paid
A shipped project (not described)@iayushchoudhary ↗
July 2026 4 reports
- Claude Code · $20/$30 paid
6–7 products in one admin panel over two weeks@aronprins ↗ - Lovable · under $10 (combined with Claude Code) excluded
Full app from one prompt via an autonomous loop@Jacobsklug ↗ - Claude Code · 1 week, ~410M tokens, $150 at standard API pricing (on Claude Pro) api_equivalent
Pixel-art cave platformer, to first playtestJoseph McDermott ↗ - · In 6 months of vibe coding I spent $20,000 paid
Six months of vibe-coded projects (revenue $125)@teovito ↗
June 2026 3 reports
- Replit · ~$85 paid
Student project (not described in the index)unknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗ - Claude Code · $316.24 at API rates across three versions api_equivalent
Browser Stardew Valley clone (3 prompt rounds)Mansel Scheffel (YouTube, summarized by Modern Creator) ↗ - Claude Code · $91.52 metered in one hour (paid nothing; on a subscription) api_equivalent
NETRUN, terminal life-sim game (1 hour)unknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗
May 2026 3 reports
- Claude Code · Claude Max — $110/month paid
Active development of five iOS/Android/web appsDonghyun Lee ↗ - Lovable · $175 on Lovable ($307 incl. Supabase, domain, Stripe fees) paid
Habit tracker, quote/invoice tool and a membership siteunknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗ - Claude Code · $200 Claude Code Max subscription in April ($24,096.47 in "API" costs) paid
Own SaaS (April work)o10449366 ↗
April 2026 2 reports
- Google AI (Gemini/Antigravity/Jules) · this cost $0 paid
Three.js platformer for #vibejam (6 days)@renderfiction ↗ - GitHub Copilot · total cost was less than the $10/month in credits paid
Social-media scheduling web app (.NET, ~2 hours)qingcharles ↗
March 2026 3 reports
- Claude Code · Claude Max $340 (of ~$828 total incl. design, Apple, domain) paid
BetterSelf, AI voice-practice iOS appunknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗ - Claude Code · $130 ($125 Claude Max + ~$5 Midjourney) paid
iOS App Store app (non-coder, 3 weeks)unknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗ - Multiple · less than $2,500 on credits total (+ ~$50/mo hosting) paid
Diji.art SaaS (35 services, 6 integrations)unknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗
February 2026 2 reports
- Replit · $691 in credits paid
Job-search appu/ChodeMcGee ↗ - Claude Code · $20,000 in API costs api
Rust C compiler that builds Linux (16 agents, ~2,000 sessions)gignico (quoting Anthropic) ↗
January 2026 4 reports
- · $6k thusfar paid
Feature-rich beta app (6 months); includes services and a laptopunknown commenter ↗ - · Spent about $150 paid
Locally hosted Asana-style work platformunknown commenter ↗ - Claude Code · Spent roughly $50 for claude AI paid
ShellSight, shell-session recorder SaaS (frontend, backend, storage)takladev ↗ - Lovable · $570 on Lovable credits paid
Complex SaaS, live (non-coder)unknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗
November 2025 2 reports
- Replit · about $1,800 total: ~$1,200 Replit, ~$450 OpenAI API, ~$150 domain/tools paid
StuidoPrompt.ai web app (Next.js, Postgres, Stripe)unknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗ - Cursor · $638 in 6 weeks (Cursor invoices) paid
AI-first CRM product (ongoing)nthypes ↗
October 2025 1 report
- Lovable · $200 in Lovable credits paid
Half an MVP (friend's project, ~60% done)unknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗
September 2025 2 reports
- OpenAI Codex · ~$14 in API costs paid
Swift iOS app with Live Activities and timers in 24hunknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗ - Multiple · 400 USD total ($200 Cursor + $200 Claude) paid
Full web app built from scratch over two monthsu/Future_Major5936 ↗
August 2025 1 report
- Cursor · ~$500 paid
Polary, solo-built startup MVPunknown (Reddit author not shown in index) ↗
May 2025 1 report
- Claude Code · about 16 hours and $80 in API costs paid
Electron AI writing app (EmberText)Stephan Miller ↗
January 2025 1 report
- Bolt.new · ~$140 ($100 subscription + $40 reloads) paid
Functional appunknown commenter ↗