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$350,000
20
Blended rate computed from input/output ratio below
Real-world programming data shows ~93% input. Adjust to see how the ratio affects blended cost.
93% in / 7% out
Estimated tokens for one substantial coding task (context + output). Default 100K based on typical agent sessions.
100K
Both approaches spend the same on tokens
$3,500,000/yr
Steve: 10 cut salaries redirected. Jensen: 50% of 20 salaries added on top.
Steve: replace half, fund the rest
Engineers 10 remain, 10 cut
Salary spend $3,500,000
Total cost (salary + tokens) $7,000,000
151.7M
tokens / engineer / day
Token budget per engineer $350,000/yr
Tasks per engineer
—/ day
—/ week
—/ month
—/ year
Total team tokens / year 554B
Total team tasks / year 5.5M
Jensen: keep all, add 50% in tokens
Engineers 20 remain, 0 cut
Salary spend $7,000,000
Total cost (salary + tokens) $10,500,000
75.9M
tokens / engineer / day
Token budget per engineer $175,000/yr
Tasks per engineer
—/ day
—/ week
—/ month
—/ year
Total team tokens / year 554B
Total team tasks / year 5.5M

The trade-off

Jensen costs more
+$3,500,000/yr
Jensen keeps more engineers
+10
Each Steve engineer gets
2.0x more tokens

Sensitivity analysis

How tasks per engineer per day change as you sweep each variable. The dot marks your current slider position.

Engineer salary

Input token ratio

Tokens per task

Steve Jensen

At these defaults, both models generate the same $3.5M token budget: Steve redirects 10 cut salaries, Jensen adds 50% on top of 20 salaries. Same tokens purchased, but Steve's engineers each get twice as many because they're split across half the team. Jensen's total bill is 50% higher because all 20 salaries are still being paid. The question is whether 20 engineers with fewer tokens each outperform 10 engineers with more. Adjust the input/output ratio to see how it affects blended cost (real-world programming data shows ~93% input). Adjust tokens per task to reflect your own usage — heavier agent sessions may use 500K+ tokens per task. Prices from OpenRouter, March 2026.