How do I install the Model Cost Compare skill?

Run npx skillmds add thedixitjain/model-cost-compare in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Model Cost Compare safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: makes network calls, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Model Cost Compare?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Model Cost Compare free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Model Cost Compare?

thedixitjain (@thedixitjain) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Model Cost Compare by thedixitjain — Agent Skill

Name: Model Cost Compare
Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Author: thedixitjain

File contents

Model Cost Comparison (Starter Pack)

Answer "which model should I use for this, and what will it cost?" with numbers instead of vibes.

When to use

The user describes a task (bulk refactor, deep review, quick lookup, long-context analysis) and wants the cheapest seat that is still adequate.

Steps

Classify the task. Bucket it: mechanical (rename, format), standard coding, hard reasoning (architecture, security review), long-context (>200K tokens input), or web research.
Estimate volume. Rough input/output token estimate from the described scope (files touched × average size; state the assumption).
Price the roster. Using the cost table in CLAUDE.md ($/MTok input/output), compute the estimated cost for each plausible seat: Claude Opus 4.8 ($5/$25), Fable 5 ($10/$50, 1M context, opt-in), Codex GPT-5.5 ($5/$30), Perplexity Sonar Pro ($3/$15), and the included-cost seats (agy, copilot, ollama, cursor-agent) at $0.
Recommend one seat. Pick the cheapest adequate option and defend it in two sentences. Mechanical work goes to included seats; hard reasoning justifies Opus 4.8 at xhigh effort; only 1M-context needs or judgment-class calls (ambiguous architecture, API design, product tradeoffs) justify Fable 5 or the claude-sdk seat.
Check risk surfaces. Regardless of the classification, escalate to a premium Claude seat when the task touches API or schema contracts, security-sensitive code or CI configuration, release artifacts, user-facing UI, a new module, or a breaking change. Cheap-seat agreement never settles a judgment-class decision.
Show the spread. A three-row table: recommended seat, one cheaper-but-riskier option, one premium option, each with estimated dollars for this task.

Guardrails

Never recommend Fable 5 or fast-mode Opus by default; both are 2x standard Opus cost and are opt-in only.
Never recommend Fable 5 for security audits; its safety classifiers can refuse offensive-security phrasing. Security review goes to Opus 4.8 (see skills/blocks/fable5-prompting.md).
If the estimate exceeds $1, say so explicitly before any dispatch happens.

Source: hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins → plugins/nyldn/claude-octopus/skills/octopus-starter-pack/model-cost-compare/SKILL.md

---name: model-cost-comparedescription: Starter: compare model costs for a described task — maps task shape to the cheapest adequate seat and shows the price spread--- # Model Cost Comparison (Starter Pack) Answer "which model should I use for this, and what will it cost?" with numbers instead of vibes. ## When to use The user describes a task (bulk refactor, deep review, quick lookup, long-context analysis) and wants the cheapest seat that is still adequate. ## Steps 1. **Classify the task.** Bucket it: mechanical (rename, format), standard coding, hard reasoning (architecture, security review), long-context (>200K tokens input), or web research. 2. **Estimate volume.** Rough input/output token estimate from the described scope (files touched × average size; state the assumption). 3. **Price the roster.** Using the cost table in CLAUDE.md ($/MTok input/output), compute the estimated cost for each plausible seat: Claude Opus 4.8 ($5/$25), Fable 5 ($10/$50, 1M context, opt-in), Codex GPT-5.5 ($5/$30), Perplexity Sonar Pro ($3/$15), and the included-cost seats (agy, copilot, ollama, cursor-agent) at $0. 4. **Recommend one seat.** Pick the cheapest adequate option and defend it in two sentences. Mechanical work goes to included seats; hard reasoning justifies Opus 4.8 at `xhigh` effort; only 1M-context needs or judgment-class calls (ambiguous architecture, API design, product tradeoffs) justify Fable 5 or the claude-sdk seat. 5. **Check risk surfaces.** Regardless of the classification, escalate to a premium Claude seat when the task touches API or schema contracts, security-sensitive code or CI configuration, release artifacts, user-facing UI, a new module, or a breaking change. Cheap-seat agreement never settles a judgment-class decision. 6. **Show the spread.** A three-row table: recommended seat, one cheaper-but-riskier option, one premium option, each with estimated dollars for this task. ## Guardrails - Never recommend Fable 5 or fast-mode Opus by default; both are 2x standard Opus cost and are opt-in only. - Never recommend Fable 5 for security audits; its safety classifiers can refuse offensive-security phrasing. Security review goes to Opus 4.8 (see `skills/blocks/fable5-prompting.md`). - If the estimate exceeds $1, say so explicitly before any dispatch happens. --- **Source:** [`hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins`](https://github.com/hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins) → `plugins/nyldn/claude-octopus/skills/octopus-starter-pack/model-cost-compare/SKILL.md`

Frequently asked questions