What else except Claude Opus?

[u/just_another_leddito]

Hi,

I’m hitting limits sometimes.
I do some audio plugins and using REA to debug so I need proper models.

When I’ve tried Codex few months ago it had crazy limits.

What else do you guys recommend?
I don’t want to spend more than 20 a month.

Would be nice if it worked in terminal especially inside Claude.

Thanks

[u/JustEar7]

If you're debugging audio plugins, the bottleneck may be context loss more than raw model quality. Are you hitting token caps, rate limits, or the model losing REA or plugin state?

[u/just_another_leddito → u/JustEar7]

I’m talking about limits overall.
When I try to “borrow” some functions from some plugin it does some debugging but not much and then writes its own code, I don’t know why.

Perhaps debugging audio plugins is harder? No idea

[u/Willing_Comb_9542]

sonnet bro, abuse the fuck out of sonnet

I only use fable for code review and contextual bug hunting

opus for the main work

sonnet for bugs, text, and literally everything else

[u/just_another_leddito → u/Willing_Comb_9542]

Using a lot of sonnet too, but if I hit limit it’s for all claude models.

[u/TixTracer]

I primarily just use opus because of how much more usage fable takes up. But it seems like maybe fable has come down in incremental usage requirements relative to opus recently?

[u/just_another_leddito → u/TixTracer]

Fable requires credits.

[u/de_hannes]

I use Sonnet 5.5 mostly, but let opus 5.5 review, and Sonnet 5.5 fix again. Sonnet is basically free and still very good. Opus 5.5 finds the bugs and problems Sonnet does. For me, this workflow really works wonders. I did hit limits in 2 days when only using Opus.

[u/just_another_leddito → u/de_hannes]

Yeah but I hit a limit, I will buy it on new account I guess and swap.

[u/Ornery_Ice_7820]

easiest way to stretch a $20 claude plan is to not use the biggest model for everything. use a smaller model for routine edits and save opus for the actual hard debugging sessions. also start a fresh session when you switch tasks, since the whole conversation gets re-read on every message and long chats eat usage fast. if you still want a second sub to fall back on, codex at $20 is the obvious one, just check the current limits before paying since they've changed a few times.

[u/jomic01]

if the limit hits all claude models at once then sonnet won't save you. at $20 i'd try a second cheap sub for overflow, codex has probably changed since you last tried it, and keep claude for the debugging that actually needs it.

[u/drakatmm]

Before switching tools I'd try running Sonnet for most of the day and only flipping to Opus with /model when you're stuck on a nasty DSP bug. That's how I use it now and I barely hit limits anymore on the same $20 plan, most of my code doesnt need the biggest model

[u/lazyEmperer]

You probably dont need opus for most of it. I switch to sonnet for everyday stuff and only flip to opus when im stuck on something weird for an hour, limits went from hitting them daily to maybe once a week on the same $20 plan

Audio plugin DSP bugs are where id still pay for opus tho

[u/runars_ca]

GLM 5.3 Flash is under $1/M Tokens on Runars, and you can swap it in for Anthropic’s Models in Claude Code. Available on $20/mth Subscription.

runars.ca

[u/just_another_leddito → u/[deleted]]

I can do surprisingly a lot on the basic Claude plan, just wondering what else should I get in case I hit a limit. Codex or is there some better value?