How many tokens per hour does AI code completion use?

A typical developer generates 5-15K tokens/hour of suggestions (file context + completions). At GPT-4 pricing, this costs $0.15-0.45/hour, or $50-150/developer/month for active coding.

Is it cheaper to use GPT-4 API or GitHub Copilot for code completion?

GitHub Copilot Business at $19/month is usually cheaper for average developers. Heavy users (8+ hours/day of AI-assisted coding) may exceed this with direct GPT-4 API at high usage rates.

Does code completion use input or output tokens?

Both — the codebase context (thousands of tokens) is input, and the suggestion is output. Output tokens are 2-3x more expensive, making long code suggestions disproportionately costly.

AI Code Completion Token Usage Calculator

Estimate tokens consumed per hour by AI code completion tools. Model context window usage, suggestion acceptance rate, and total API cost for developer tooling.

AI & SaaS Tools

SaaS Metrics

AI Compute

AI ROI

LTV:CAC Ratio

ARPU ($/month)

Monthly Churn %

CAC ($)

Gross Margin %

LTV

$3500

LTV:CAC

11.67

Payback

2.9 mo

Health

Healthy ✓

Benchmark: LTV:CAC ≥ 3 is healthy. Payback under 12 months is excellent. Under 1 means you lose money on each customer.

How to Use

Enter the values for the scenario you are assessing. Estimate tokens consumed per hour by AI code completion tools. Model context window usage, suggestion acceptance rate, and total API cost for developer tooling. Use the code completion tokens result to inform your calculation.

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AI Code Completion Token Usage Calculator

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many tokens per hour does AI code completion use?

Is it cheaper to use GPT-4 API or GitHub Copilot for code completion?

Does code completion use input or output tokens?