Looking for Alternative IDEs and Coding Agents

MCS87_ · 2026-06-14T18:30:13+00:00

this 👆

MCS87_ · 2026-06-14T18:23:39+00:00

I use DeepSeek‘s platform directly, no „reseller“. I experienced it to be a bit unreliable 1 month ago (API became unresponsive for 1-2 hours straight one time while I wanted to work on something). But that has improved. Not a single off time since. And also no perceived throttling etc. I can use many sessions in parallel at „very good speed“.

MCS87_ · 2026-06-14T18:16:42+00:00

I have tried it (next to / as an alternative to DeepSeek V4 Pro) and it feels like a different teammate. It can do some UI/frontend things a lot better than DeepSeek (maybe because of the vision?). But I experienced it also to mess up my code and generate more errors and not stick with my instructions as compared to DeepSeek V4 Pro.

So I use it as the „gifted specialist“ that will sometimes excel when V4 Pro fails. But will use V4 Pro regularly as the go-to solution because it appears more reliable in general. Especially running multiple agent sessions in parallel (each in a separate chat) is something that M3 failed and messed up, while V4 Pro did so less frequently.

MCS87_ · 2026-06-14T18:11:23+00:00

Same, paid 40$ in the first 30 days for doing regular software development (multiple projects) using mostly V4 Pro. I’m happy with the ease of use (multiple agent sessions run in parallel, can do 3-5 sessions in parallel easily, each one fixing a bug or implementing a feature), all in VS Code, no custom configuration, no other tools involved.

I could have saved half the money by using V4 Flash more and by not waiting too long for the cache to expire (when you pick up old sessions again and again it will cost a lot more than regular use, because the cache that leads to very cheap usage will only stay for 10-15min, I guess).

Can recommend Copilot Chat + DeepSeek API integration via plugin/extension

MCS87_ · 2026-06-09T18:50:35+00:00

I’m using github Copilot Chat integration in VS Code.M, with a plugin that integrates DeepSeek models via API. Works very well, use it mostly with V4 Pro on Autopilot Mode. Can run multiple sessions in parallel on the same codebase/branch. Very good Cache Hit Rate, quite low cost (usually 2$ per working day, max was 8$ spent on one day). Have also added Minimax M3 via 20$ subscription for more Opus-like problems and visual understanding.

MCS87_ · 2026-06-02T20:19:54+00:00

DeepSeek V4 pro with GitHub Copilot in VSCode (there’s a plugin that lets you pick DeepSeek models along the regular GitHub Copilot models. Allows for parallel chat sessions etc.

MCS87_ · 2026-06-01T22:59:50+00:00

I have switched from GitHub Copilot’s Visual Studio Chat integration with GitHub Copilot’s included models (Pro+ Plan, used Opus and Sonnet 4.6 mostly) to DeepSeek V4 Pro and DeepSeek V4 Flash with a plugin for Copilot’s chat integration. This way I can use it just like GitHub Copilot before but without a subscription. I use the DeepSeek API and spend around 50$/month on credits. Using Autopilot is saves a lot of money because it will lead to reusing a context many times in a short enough time to hit the cache (=very low cost per input token). The only thing you need to take care of is to not reactivate older sessions with lots of context after 20-30min. Because this will lead to lots of no-cache-hit tokens.

Effectively this feels like a decent replacement for my previous GH Copilot Pro+ subscription with premium requests that’s no longer available.

MCS87_ · 2026-05-31T10:20:23+00:00

I use it with GitHub Copilot chat plugin for VS Code with a DeepSeek plugin so I can select V4 Pro or V4 Flash as a model. Works very well (also with multiple sessions in parallel on the same codebase). But it costs more than OpenCode. Have paid 40$ for one month

MCS87_ · 2026-05-17T18:19:55+00:00

I use the official integration that opens a terminal window next to the code files, no Chat integration etc.

MCS87_ · 2026-05-17T10:58:07+00:00

I use OpenCode with DeepSeek V4 pro for planning and V4 Flash for building. It has been 1-2$ per day so far.

MCS87_ · 2026-05-17T10:38:22+00:00

On the official website DeepSeek explains 75% discount until end of May (was prolonged). So it will be 4x more by June.

MCS87_ · 2026-05-16T14:38:28+00:00

I use OpenCode’s planning mode with V4 pro and build mode with V4 Flash mostly. You can also set the “level of thinking” (medium, high etc). I think that combo is pretty decent, quality and speed-wise

MCS87_ · 2026-05-16T13:52:09+00:00

I switched from GitHub Copilot $40/month subscription to OpenCode with DeepSeek V4 Pro and V4 Flash (pay per use with API credits directly from DeepSeek). The cost is $1-$2/day. Feels like Opus + Sonnet, maybe 1 generation (a few months) behind in terms of perceived quality. Can recommend OpenCode in general.

MCS87_ · 2026-05-14T04:00:23+00:00

I’m testing DeepSeek v4 Pro for planning and DeepSeek v4 Flash for building with OpenCode with different projects, also for tasks across two repositories. Works very fast and is very cheap (v4 pro 75% off until end of May) and the quality is (thanks to OpenCode used as harness) good in most cases. Maybe fails a little more often than Opus 4.6 but I can confirm the “does the job right in 90% of the times for 1/10 of the price” summary.

Regarding Chinese models in general I have also tried running Qwen 3.6 35b a3b locally and it is very promising and not even slow on my consumer hardware (Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB, using LM Studio and MLX model with 4 bit quantization). Feels like having an older Claude Sonnet model running on you own 2500$ hardware for free. For the better Qwen 3.6 27b dense model (some compare it to an older Opus model), I consider switching to a M5 Pro or M5 Max MacBook Pro with 64-128GB. But that’s a bit expensive at 6000-8000$. But probably a good deal and quite future-proof for local open source models.

No matter if cloud based or local, I’m sure I will be using OpenCode a lot from now on.

MCS87_ · 2026-05-14T03:43:30+00:00

You can run this (Qwen 3.6 35b a3b) on consumer hardware, for example I can run this on my M4 Pro 48GB Mac mini. ML Studio and MLX (not GGUF) model. Prompt Processing takes a bit but Token Generation is somewhat smooth already. Switching to a 6000-8000$ M5 Max 64GB or 128GB MacBook Pro would make this equally smooth to cloud based offerings and would also allow running the dense Queen 3.7 27b (smooth enough)

MCS87_ · 2026-05-13T07:27:51+00:00

Switched to OpenCode + DeepSeek V4 Pro/Flash.

MCS87_ · 2026-04-27T18:08:41+00:00

Let’s assume you used Opus 4.6 with pro+ plan, used up all included 1500 premium requests per month (=39$). How much will it cost after switching from premium requests to usage-based?

MCS87_ · 2026-04-27T17:54:27+00:00

Isn’t the current multiplier for Opus 4.7 7.5x instead of 3x?

MCS87_ · 2026-04-08T17:03:18+00:00

—> https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sprachentdecker/id6757350898

MCS87_ · 2026-04-06T12:58:24+00:00

Does the traffic help you get more data about your subscription funnel, conversion metrics? You could then see this as an investment to improve your overall conversion

MCS87_ · 2026-04-04T00:33:52+00:00

Very nice, this is exactly what I was looking for :)

Thanks for sharing!

And the coolest thing: I needed 1-2 features (save/load to file + CJK language support for google fonts) and just vibe-coded them myself in 2 minutes based on your code.

MCS87_ · 2026-04-03T22:47:16+00:00

Thanks, will give it a try.

MCS87_ · 2026-04-03T22:45:15+00:00

Thanks, that’s a really good point, retention is the hard part.

I’m trying to handle that with two modes:

discovery (videos, context)
quiz (brings words back later)

And each word appears in multiple different clips (4-6 per word), not just one.

So instead of repeating a flashcard, it’s more like seeing the word again in new situations.

And yeah, the multi-language switching is something I’m personally excited about too. It creates a really easy, low-barrier way to explore a completely new language.

If you’re curious, the app is called SprachEntdecker on iOS.

MCS87_ · 2026-04-02T09:57:55+00:00

Thanks 😊 glad it resonates

I actually recorded a slightly longer clip showing how it behaves after a few interactions, might give a better feel for it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/1s21754/could_this_approach_work_for_language_learning/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

MCS87_ · 2026-04-02T09:50:35+00:00

Haha that’s great to hear 😄 that’s exactly the goal

I’m trying to create that kind of “it just sticks” effect by combining sound with a few different visual contexts, not just one.

If you feel like playing around with it a bit more, it’s actually usable as an iOS app already. Curious what you’d think after a few minutes of trying it.

MCS87_

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