Cost at scale, 10-dev team running daily AI work?
Real numbers from teams I’ve advised:
- Copilot Business ($19/seat): 10 devs = $190/mo flat. No metering, no surprises. Lowest predictable cost.
- Cursor Business ($40/seat): 10 devs = $400/mo + variable model costs ($100, $400/mo) = $500, $800/mo total. Mid-range.
- Claude Code via Claude Pro ($20/seat) + API: 10 devs = $200/mo Pro + $400, $1,500/mo API = $600, $1,700/mo. Highest, but most leverage.
- Claude Code Enterprise (annual contract, often $50, $100/seat with bundled tokens): 10 devs = $500, $1,000/mo. Mid-range with the leverage of Claude Code.
The right way to think about cost: divide tool spend by hours-saved-per-dev-per-month. At a conservative 4 hours/week saved per dev (16 hours/month), even Claude Code at $170/seat is paying for itself if your blended rate is $50+/hour.
Common pattern at agencies: Copilot per-seat for daily autocomplete + a shared Claude Code budget for batch ops and CI. Best of both, ~$300, $500/mo for 10 devs.