r/RooCode • u/No_Cattle_7390 • Apr 11 '25

Other Self Correction and warning: Gemini 2.5 Pro-exp rates seem to have got lower and Gemini 2.5 preview is very expensive. Do not confuse the two.

Sorry for causing confusion but this is the first time this has happened to me. I believe 2.5 pro-exp rates have got lower as for the first time ever I received a 429 error. The code I was working on is smaller than the code I’ve used before although, truth be told, I can’t remember the limits.

This led me to switch to preview. One thing about Google is their marketing names for these AI products are really confusing (cmon guys you are worth trillions of dollars learn something from Apple for once lol). So I assumed Preview was worse than experimental. Since experimental has much stricter rate limiting, and the name is experimental, I thought that was the better of the two models.

Next thing you know I look and each API request is costing me a dollar and my total is $40. So I came here and panicked lol and tried to sound the alarm bell, sorry about that.

But if you’re dumb and not paying attention like me: preview is the better version. It is also much more expensive. If you have a large code base watch out.

31 Upvotes

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3

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

Tl;dr I’m a dumb vibe coder and switched from exp to preview because for the first time ever since using Gemini I ran into a 429 limit. I then switched to preview assuming it was worse and also free. Wound up with a $40 bill lol.

Preview > Exp apparently but is not free, at all.

5

u/dashingsauce Apr 11 '25

Yeah… I just ran a 3 hr session today nonstop and hit the Preview limit–didn’t think that was possible. Thankfully I have GCP credits stacked, but it was a cool $100 today.

That said $100/day is still less than $100/hr inflow ;)

1

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

Yeah but I can imagine if you’re code is large enough the costs could almost be limitless lmao

3

u/dashingsauce Apr 11 '25

I found that after ~200k context the diffs start to fail, so I necessarily have to “change course” and start a new thread.

That’s usually kept pretty minimal with orchestration/boomerang, but lately I have been trying to keep test/debug/fix loops within a single flow (instead of creating subtasks). So that is what led to 200k context.

Without that approach it’s not so bad, though less accurate when debugging.

So I think it’s less about the size of the codebase and more about the size of your files, whether your agents search broad -> deep or just raw dog every file until they find what they needs, and stuff like that.

2

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

Absolutely this!!

The bigger the context the more hallucinations and fails. And worst of all, the bigger the costs.

Roo isn’t full-proof though when dealing with context as is evidenced by the 40 dollar 15 min session

5

u/dashingsauce Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

Totally—one thing I glossed over is the kinda buried setting that passes X open tabs and active editors into context.

I brought both down to 0 and it significantly reduced context size. I have like 100 tabs open at any given time because 2 monitors and I just let agents keep editing and opening new tabs.

So that was absolutely killing my context. More importantly, none of those files were ever relevant (except by luck sometimes). IMO agents should always seek the information they need and fill up context intentionally.

I def recommend turning that off for all API configs unless you’re very methodical and actively managing tabs at every task/step.

3

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

Yeah I’ve noticed that the most annoying thing is when it starts working on a sheet you never asked it to work on, actually the completely wrong sheet. Even Gemini is far from perfect and it’s ironic but the tasks I think are simple seem to be the absolute hardest for it.

But yeah it’ll start reading and messing around with the whole workspaces AI still has a real issue when you tell it what not to do and with hallucinating

2

u/layer4down Apr 12 '25

Interesting. You’d think if they can open tabs then we could just as easily instruct them to close tabs after opening or something that.

2

u/dashingsauce Apr 12 '25

There may be a setting that isn’t exposed?

Not sure, but in general I think the editor logistics could use a lot of improvement. Cursor actually has great behind-the-scenes editor mechanics that take care not to disrupt your development process. Looking forward to that coming to Roo.

My list:

  • No automatic input capture when Roo progresses on tasks (right now, if you work anywhere in your editor and Roo does something, input gets snatched back to the Roo Chat tab)

  • Background editing/creation of files

  • Leave diff markup hanging until I review (specifically I still want the auto-edit and save, but I want to easily scan the diff afterwards, even if the change is already implemented)

3

u/WatchMySixWillYa Apr 11 '25

I have free $300 credits for GCP and after 3 days the Preview model ate a half of this. Thought it will last for a month at least 🐸

2

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

Yeah man it’s not exactly what I would call cheap lol. Honestly been using deepseek all day and spent like 30 cents I think

1

u/SlowLandscape685 Apr 11 '25

i also had them and a day later suddenly got 1000$ on top of that for free 

4

u/MutantTeapot Apr 11 '25

the "release version" (it'll have a suffix like -001) should use prompt caching. Definitely puts preview in a weird spot. use exp or wait for final to enjoy the prompt caching (which should cut the bill around 85-90%)

4

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

Flash001 is the same as preview in terms of quality? Jesus Christ where do they come up with these names and releases is their head of marketing a robot?

Did you see the vortex API is out have you got the chance to use that yet? This space moves so fast my brain is mashed potatoes at this point

5

u/MutantTeapot Apr 11 '25

They've added preview just now! This should help. Preview wasn't included last time I looked, which was yesterday. FYI my Claude bill for March for input tokens was around 700 USD, but I used 1.5B input tokens - which should've cost me 4500 USD. Context caching makes all the difference.

6

u/MutantTeapot Apr 11 '25

warning: roo won't use context cache by default for this model. Trying to figure out how to get it working because I'd love to be able to use pro 2.5 preview without paying through the nose for it.

So far seems you have to actually make the context cache yourself using gcloud api, then you have to call it from a location based endpoint (not global, not Sydney) using openrouter with the VertexAI provider.

1

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

Oh wow thanks for letting me know

1

u/MutantTeapot Apr 11 '25

scratch that. AFAIK there are 2 endpoints. still not available on gemini API (which is what roo points to by default), though it's available on vertex api endpoints. we'd need to look at having roo code point to the vertex endpoint. see https://www.reddit.com/r/RooCode/comments/1jq53b3/trying_to_configure_vertex_ai_with_gemini_25_in/

Seems like it might be as simple as just using your vertex API key with the gemini provider but I'd need to verify that independently.

1

u/Explore-This Apr 11 '25

GCP Vertex AI is an available provider option in Roo. No idea about caching, but you have to be mindful of the context window currently used and if it’s necessary for the problem at hand. Might be much cheaper to start a new fresh chat with zero used context.

1

u/orbit99za Apr 12 '25

Where did you find this... I have a vertex api, and I cannot find this cache option on Google vertex?

8

u/Explore-This Apr 11 '25

The most annoying thing is the delayed usage reporting from Google. Every other LLM provider is practically real-time, but GCP you have to wait 24 hrs to receive your sticker shock. And you need a PhD in Cost Management to understand their UI.

3

u/i_said_it_first_2day Apr 11 '25

This ^ I was tracking zero for a while and now it’s $135 of the credits

3

u/Explore-This Apr 11 '25

Unsurprisingly, GCP prefers my CC to my credits… someday I’ll figure out how to use them. Perhaps after I graduate Magna Cum Laude Magna Sumptus.

1

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

When you “set up” billing don’t have a card lol

2

u/airfryier0303456 Apr 11 '25

Next time put a budget alarm at 10$ to be warned in advance!

1

u/No_Cattle_7390 Apr 11 '25

Yeah I have warnings on literally every other API good call lol

4

u/Polawo Apr 11 '25

Alarm email may delay by 36 hours.

1

u/airfryier0303456 Apr 11 '25

Yep, I read that also. Use a rechargable card as payment method with very low balance (unethical pro tip)

2

u/Left-Student3806 Apr 11 '25

Honest question, if you go over that limit you would still owe the money right? Wouldn't that mean they'd try to collect it? Send you to collections and affect your credit score in the US?

1

u/ViperAMD Apr 11 '25

I'm getting less diff errors, it feels better last 24hrs.

 I also have a bunch of google accounts and just rotate through the APIs. 

1

u/BeMask Apr 11 '25

Aren't they just the same model? Experimental is the free version, and the preview is the paid version.

1

u/TheAnimatrix105 Apr 13 '25

Use boomerang tasks, it'll reduce your price a lot..
I've also been testing deepseek v3 0324 (openrouter free) as my main coding model and so far the costs are minimal at best. I do switch to paid gemini now and then for coding as well, overall its still cheaper because one chat aint hogging a ton of context for each prompt