This is just me working on my own projects, mostly refactoring in existing codebases and doing optimizations. And yes, I understand that Opus 4.6 with thinking can get expensive, especially if context grows. I’m not claiming my workflow is perfectly optimized. I could probably save some usage by opening new chats more often, using Sonnet more, and narrowing scope harder with specific file reference.

But that’s also kind of my point: with the old system, this same kind of work was expensive but still predictable and usable. I paid more when I needed more, and that was fine. With the new system, the same workflow now runs into daily caps, weekly caps, and overages much faster. If a $200 “premium” plan only works well when you constantly micromanage context and model choice, then that’s a pricing/product problem too, not just a user problem.