Last updated: July 2025
How I Code with AI on a budget/free
My Browser Setup: The Free AI Buffet
First things first, I have a browser open loaded with tabs pointing to the free tiers of powerful AI models. Why stick to one when you can get multiple perspectives for free? My typical lineup includes:
- At least one tab of OpenAI Playground. If you set your account's data settings to allow OpenAI to use your data for model training, you get free tokens to use on GPT-4.5, o3, and other models.
Also, try Google Gemini 2.5 Pro (different than AI Studio, has better image generation and deep research; I always have a couple tabs of this along with a couple tabs of AI Studio).
Claude.ai - Free but sometimes so limited it's annoying to use, so I use other sites/ways to access Claude like Cody extension, Copilot, etc.
Grok offers free compute and uncensored image generation, which can be useful when other models' safety systems interfere with legitimate tasks. However, it is run by someone who may be manipulating the company to promote Nazi-adjacent views and misinformation, possibly attempting to sway users in that direction. Reports indicate that Grok has been instructed to lie about historical atrocities, including topics such as genocide in Africa. While the misinformation appears to be mostly on X, if you keep in mind to restrict usage to coding or be cautious knowing it might be programmed with questionable motives, it can occasionally be useful.
A smarter, cheaper workflow: Focused Context
When you use AI in web chat's (the chat interfaces like AI Studio, ChatGPT, Openrouter, instead of thru an IDE or agent framework) are almost always better at solving problems, and coming up with solutions compared to the agents like Cline, Trae, Copilot.. Not always, but usually.
When you use things like Cursor, Cline, Roo Code for everything, they are sending tons of text to the AI about how to use their tools, how to use or activate MCP server stuff, edit files, etc it "dumbs it down" too much. It gets confused. People end up paying for the most expensive best models to do everything and even that isn't enough to get over the dumbing down effect from the AIs getting tons of unneeded information unrelated to your problem.
So when that happens, I use my tool to generate the right context to solve my problem. Then I paste it into one of the many AI web chat's (sometimes more than one, since they sometimes give different answers) and just ask it questions or ask it to code review, to try to figure out why x is happening when y is happening...etc then when it figures out a solution.. i have it write a prompt for Cline or another agent type thing to do the actual file edits. GPT 4.1 can handle this just fine and I have unlimited. No reason to be wasting Claude credits to edit files. No reason to be sending Claude a bunch of crap it doesn't need making it dumb. I can use Claude to plan out anything or fix really hard problems, cheap, using Openrouter web chat then just paste it back in Cline and let it run.
After doing this for a while, you really get a feel for which models excel at which types of tasks.
How AI Code Prep Helps (Example Prompt Structure):
Can you help me figure out why my program does x instead of y?
Then, AI Code Prep GUI (for Windows, Mac, Linux, and web) steps in. It recursively scans your project folder (subfolders, sub-subfolders, you name it) and grabs the code, formatting it nicely for AI like this:
The context block generated by AI Code Prep looks like this:
Can you help me figure out why my program does x instead of y?
fileName.js:
<code>
... the contents of the file..
</code>
nextFile.py:
<code>
import example
...etc
</code>
Can you help me figure out why my program does x instead of y?
It writes it twice if you have that option enabled, which helps get the AI to focus better on your question/prompt. You can choose to have it on top, bottom, or both. OpenAI claims this helps, I haven't really tested to see if that's true but it seems logical.
On Windows, you just right-click somewhere inside your project folder
(or on the folder itself) and select "AI Code Prep GUI" from the
context menu (look at the screenshots on the site). A GUI window pops
up, usually with the right code files pre-selected. It smartly tries
to skip things you likely don't need, like node_modules,
.git, etc. If its guess isn't perfect, you can easily
check or uncheck files.
This is super useful when your project is huge and blows past an AI's context limit. You can manually curate exactly what the AI needs to see.
The problem with many coding agents like Cline, Github Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, etc., is that they often send either WAY too much context or WAY too little. This is why they can seem dumb or ineffective sometimes. Sometimes, you just gotta do things yourself, use a tool like mine to select the files yourself, but it helps auto-select the code files while skipping the stuff you probably don't need (but still have the option to add what you want with the checkboxes) and then dump that curated context into several AIs (especially the free web ones!).
Sure, there are other context-generating tools, but many are command-line only, or need a public GitHub repo link. What if your code is private? What if you want to keep it local? What if you prefer checkboxes on a GUI? For something like this a GUI makes sense.
Note: This page isn't updated with all the latest AI Code Prep GUI features, check wuu73.org/aicp for latest major upgrade
Model Strategy: Picking the Right Brain for the Job
Since many great models are free to use via web interfaces (like Gemini in AI Studio, Grok, Deepseek), I prioritize these. Poe.com also gives free daily credits for top models like Claude and the new o4 series.
Gemini 2.5 Pro/Preview (via AI Studio) is great for debugging, great for planning, and also finding it the best at lots of things now. For really thorny issues, I might try the new o4-mini (available via OpenRouter or Poe). It surprisingly fixed a persistent bug for me right away, though I'm still figuring out its best use cases. It's notably cheaper via API than the previous top dogs like Claude 3.5/3.7/4.
I usually try Claude 3.7 or 4 at some point, via Poe or API (OpenRouter makes this easy), or github Copilot chat (you can get some free usage from that if you don't pay) but it's pricier for frequent use. Think of Claude 3.7 and 4 as Claude on Adderall – brilliant, sometimes verbose, maybe a bit 'psychotic' like Hunter S. Thompson. Lots of great output, but you might need a calmer model like Claude 3.5 to refine it or do the actual coding.
My Workflow is something like this when starting a new project:
- Plan & Brainstorm: Use the smarter/free web models (Gemini 2.5, o4-mini, Claude 3.7, 4, o3, etc) to figure out the approach, plan the steps, identify libraries, etc.
- Generate Agent Prompt: Ask one of these smart models: "Write a detailed-enough prompt for Cline, my AI coding agent, to complete the following tasks: [describe tasks]". Sometimes, I'll copy this generated prompt and paste it into another free AI good at rewriting (like ChatGPT) to refine it further.
- Execute with Cline: Paste the step-by-step task list into Cline, configured to use a stable and efficient model like GPT 4.1 or Claude 3.5 (or Claude 4 if it is doing really complicated things). The 4.1's have been trained to follow instructions well.
- Fallback: If GPT 4.1 struggles, switch Cline to use Claude 3.5 via API. It seems to be the next best for reliable execution. Deepseek v3 or R1 is really great at following instructions as well.
Essentially: Use expensive/smart models (and the excellent free Gemini 2.5 Pro) to strategize and plan. Validate the plan by pasting it into 2-3 other free models (Deepseek R1, Claude on Poe if context allows) and ask "Is this good? Can you improve it or find flaws?". Then, use a stable workhorse like GPT 4.1 or Claude 3.5 within Cline to do the heavy lifting (coding).
o4-mini seems particularly adept at untangling complex code logic or figuring out high-level implementation strategies (like choosing frameworks or libraries). I'll often throw my initial idea at Gemini 2.5, o4-mini, GPT 4.1, ChatGPT, maybe o3-mini (try duck.ai - often free), and Phind to get a range of ideas. If the free/cheap options don't crack it, I'll escalate to pricier models via API.
Alternative Agents & Setups
Trae.ai (from Bytedance, makers of TikTok) is a free VS Code compatible IDE with free AI usage, including Claude 4, Claude 3.7, Claude 3.5, and GPT 4.1. Their agents aren't as good as Cline (nothing is as good, to be honest!) but it's free and gives access to the best models. Sometimes, I find its built-in agent isn't as robust as Cline. However, since Trae seems to be a VS Code clone, you can likely install the Cline extension within it! However... it is too overloaded to get any free usage from it, its too slow. I'll still mention it though.. but meh.
So, you could have two setups:
- VS Code + Cline extension + Copilot extension (get the $10/mo subscription for cheap API access via Cline, though the free tier might offer some basic use).
- Trae.ai + Cline extension (potentially leveraging Trae's free model access if Cline can use it, or using your own API keys).
Try both! Sometimes the native Copilot agent solves things Cline struggles with, and vice-versa. I suspect Cline sometimes sends overly large prompts which might hinder performance on certain tasks compared to the more integrated Copilot agent.
Roo Code: Cline's Clone
Roo Code
Roo Code is a clone of Cline, very similar but with some different features that are worth trying out. Sometimes Cline might work better for your workflow, and sometimes Roo Code will. It's a good idea to try both and see which fits your needs for a given project or coding style.
Cline for VS Code is free, but remember you pay for the API calls unless you're leveraging the Copilot subscription trick. Using the VS Code LM API setting in Cline with a $10/month Copilot sub is currently the most cost-effective way to get near-unlimited access to powerful models within the agent.
TL;DR: Quickstart Guide
-
Models & Roles:
- Planning & Brainstorming: Gemini 2.5 Pro (AI Studio), o4-mini (OpenRouter), Claude 3.7 (Poe), if you have OpenAI Playground configured for the 250k free daily tokens, I recommend using those up with o3 and GPT 4.5... VERY good
- Problem Solving & Debugging: GPT-4.5 (free tokens in Playground), Claude 4 (free daily on Poe)
- Actual Coding: GPT-4.1 via Cline; fallback to Claude 3.5 if needed
-
Key Tools:
- VS Code and Trae for editing/running
- AI Code Prep GUI – locally scan & curate only the files you need, saves so much time
- Cline (VS Code agent) for step-by-step code execution
- Free web chats for multi-perspective advice: Poe.com, ChatGPT, Grok, Deepseek, Perplexity, OpenAI Playground, AI Studio w/Gemini 2.5 Pro, Openrouter, duck.ai
-
Quick Workflow:
- Run AI Code Prep GUI to bundle your (if already existing) project’s relevant files.
- Paste that context into your favorite web chat models for planning & debugging.
- Ask one model to “Write me a detailed Cline prompt for these tasks,” then refine it (e.g. in ChatGPT).
- Copy/paste into Cline set to GPT-4.1 to generate or fix code; if it stalls, switch to Claude 3.5.
-
Cost-Saving Hacks:
- Enable “share data” in OpenAI Playground for 250k free GPT-4.5, o3, (both genius expensive models) & 2.5 MILLION free tokens/day for o4-mini, o3-mini!!
- $10/mo GitHub Copilot subscription gives you rate-limited access to Claude models via Cline
- Pay-as-you-go on OpenRouter for o4-mini, Claude 3.7, and other new models
Some Thoughts
AI is an incredible force multiplier, but it's not a magic wand. The real magic happens when you combine your curiosity, persistence, and willingness to experiment with these powerful tools. Don't get discouraged by bugs or setbacks—every challenge is a chance to learn something new. Mix and match models, try wild ideas, and don't be afraid to break things and rebuild. The best coders aren't the ones who never get stuck—they're the ones who keep moving forward, using every tool and trick at their disposal. Embrace the chaos, enjoy the process, and let your creativity lead the way!
Latest Model Updates (2025)
Claude Sonnet 4 & Opus 4
Status: Just released and proving to be the best models for everything
Performance: Fixed some bugs today that were hard for most other models to handle
Cost: More expensive, but accessible through GitHub Copilot $10/month (rate limited)
GitHub Copilot Value: The cheap $10/mo GitHub Copilot subscription seems to be giving me a very generous amount of Claude 4 uses through the VS Code LM API. I keep using it as my main model in Cline/Roo Code, and it has not run out yet. I either use GPT 4.1 or Claude 4, been waiting for it to limit me but it hasn't yet (they say that GPT 4.1 is unlimited). I always hate subscriptions for anything, but this particular one is insanely good value.
Strategy: Save Claude 4 for tough problems, use GPT 4.1 for regular coding
GPT 4.5
Performance: Excellent for bug fixing and complex problem solving
Token Limits: 250k tokens daily if you allow data for model training
Cost Hack: Free under the 250k token limit when you enable data sharing in settings
Use Case: Great for using AI Code Prep tool to analyze entire codebases
Current Coding Workflow (2025)
For New Projects:
- Planning Phase: Type all details in notepad (languages, libraries, servers, etc.)
-
Multi-Model Consultation: Paste into multiple
models for different "doctor's opinions":
- Gemini 2.5 Pro (free)
- GPT 4.1
- o4-mini
- Claude 4 on Poe.com (free daily credits)
- Refinement: Go back and forth to fine-tune details
- Task Generation: Have model write step-by-step task list for Cline AI coding agent
- Execution: Copy/paste into Cline (or Roo Code) set to GPT 4.1 for 'act' mode
For Problem Solving:
- Use GPT 4.5 with AI Code Prep tool for complex codebase analysis
- Ask GPT 4.5 to "write me a prompt for Cline" to complete tasks
- Choose models based on problem complexity
- Use multiple models for different perspectives
Task List & Test Driven Development (Coming Soon)
Test Driven Development & Task Lists:
Coming to this guide soon (these other topics)Have the AIs create a detailed task list for Cline, Roo Code, Trae agent, to execute. You can also instruct Cline or Roo Code to use a markdown file to keep track of everything it does, checking things off as it completes them. This will make it easier to track and ensure nothing gets missed.
For now, you can experiment by having a model generate a checklist in markdown, and then ask Cline or Roo Code to update the file as tasks are completed.
Money-Saving Hacks
- GPT 4.5 & o3: 250k tokens free daily by enabling data sharing for model training
- Cheaper Models: 2.5 million tokens on o4-mini (excellent model), 4.1-mini/nano
- GitHub Copilot: $10/month gives access to new Claude models (rate limited)
- Trae IDE currently has free (not limited either, from what I can tell) Claude 4 and GPT 4.1 no subscription required
- Poe.com: Free daily credits for every type of model
- Web Interfaces: Use free web chat interfaces for planning and consultation
Coming Soon: Live Reddit Data & Insights
Live Reddit Data Scraping & Daily Insights:
A new feature is coming soon: live scraping of Reddit data and daily updated info about how people are using AI models. This will include detailed usage breakdowns, data visualizations, and new insights into real-world coding workflows and trends.