Track your AI usage like you mean it
Short, practical walkthroughs for seeing exactly what your AI tools are using and costing on a Mac. No fluff, no account, no cloud.
Pick where you are stuck
Each guide is a self-contained, step-by-step answer you can act on in a few minutes.
How much are you actually paying for AI tools?
People underestimate how many subscriptions they hold, and AI tools split cost across fixed plans and usage-based APIs. Here is how to see the real monthly number.
Read the guideGuide · CostReasoning effort is a hidden line item on your AI bill
Higher reasoning effort burns more thinking tokens and money. When to use low, medium, or high across Claude, OpenAI, and Gemini, and how to see the cost.
Read the guideGuide · CostWhat Claude Code actually costs (the real token math)
Claude Code is free on a Pro or Max plan but bills per token on an API key. Here is the real math, why power-user bills surprise teams, and how to track yours.
Read the guideGuide · CostClaude Code vs Cursor vs Copilot: what they really cost
Sticker prices for Claude Code, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot no longer equal your real bill. How each is priced in 2026, and how to compare them for your own usage.
Read the guideGuide · Claude CodeHow to check Claude Code usage on a Mac
Three ways to check your Claude Code token usage on macOS — local session files, the ccusage CLI, and a live menu bar app. No API key, no cloud, step by step.
Read the guideGuide · CostHow to track what Claude Code is actually costing you
How to track what Claude Code is really costing you — whether you are on a Pro/Max subscription or paying per token by API key — from your Mac menu bar.
Read the guideGuide · LimitsHow to monitor your Claude 5-hour limit
Claude resets usage on a rolling 5-hour window plus a weekly cap. Here is how to monitor your limit live, read the forecast, and plan heavy work around resets.
Read the guideGuide · LimitsClaude usage limits, explained in plain terms
How Claude usage limits really work: the rolling 5-hour window, the weekly cap, why exact numbers are not published, and what drains your quota fastest.
Read the guideGuide · CostModel routing: pay frontier prices only for the work that needs them
Model routing sends easy work to cheap models and hard work to frontier models. The real math, how to do it in Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and routers, plus how to measure the savings.
Read the guideGuide · CostThe cheapest AI model for coding is not the one you are using
Haiku, Sonnet, Opus, GPT-5.5, and Cursor's Composer compared by real token price and cost per solved task. Which cheap model to use for edits, features, and planning.
Read the guideGuide · CostHow to reduce Claude Code costs without slowing down
Model routing, prompt caching, lower effort, fresh sessions, tighter prompts, and more. Eight proven ways to cut your Claude Code bill 50-80 percent, and how to measure it.
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