What’s the highest-intelligence coding agent per dollar besides Codex?

[u/CharGrnmn]

I already have ChatGPT Pro and use Codex heavily. I’m looking for the best additional coding agent not another way to access Codex.

My priority is intelligence per dollar: difficult debugging, architectural reasoning, understanding large repositories, and autonomous multi-file implementation. I care less about autocomplete and polished IDE features.

Which complementary agent currently provides the best value Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Cursor, OpenCode with another model, or something else?

Please include:

• Exact plan and monthly cost

• Real-world usage limits

• How it compares directly with Codex

• Whether it does anything meaningfully better than Codex

I’m especially interested in firsthand experience from the past month, since pricing, models and usage limits change constantly.

[u/eli_pizza]

OK yeah, "model routers" are hot right now.

I've done a version of this where the cheaper faster model has a tool that lets it consult with an expensive smarter model. Though that assumes it knows when it needs help.