Codex

Databricks ran every major model paired with every major CLI coding tool against its own multi-million-line codebase. Of the 7 best cost-to-quality combos, 4 were Pi, and the single highest score, 90%, was also Pi. For the same work, Pi’s bill is often half of Claude Code’s. Here’s why the data holds up, why Pi is so cheap, and which one you should actually use.

Raw models are no longer enough for serious engineering work. What actually separates mediocre results from great ones is the Harness built around the model: context management, tool execution, task orchestration, feedback loops, and architectural guardrails.