1) Codex Plus (20 bucks) - find it enough even though I'm working on 3 small-medium size projects and occasionally helps out my wife

2) No

3) Pi

4) No, I think these are token burners and makes it practically impossible to track what's happening from a human side.

5) My own tool: <https://github.com/PAndreew/pi_group> - the main benefit is that it's multiplayer so it functions as a regular chat app in which you can invoke Pi in a group chat. This way the agent can have a shared context, but it still have all the features like generative ui, internal browser etc. that other bolted-on solutions like Claude bots in Slack do not possess.

I use claude and deepseek APIs together with Jetbrains IDEs such as PyCharm.

In the IDE, I install the KILO plugin to use as harness.

I use the Jetbrains Remote IDE feature to code remotely on a cheap linux VM at a cloud provider.

On the remote VM, I have a git repo per project that I open with the remote IDE.

The way I code stuff is to create a separate worktree for each task/prompt and let the agent run at it.

The IDE and KILO plugin lets me watch the progress of each agent and open the chat with each to provide input, instructions, etc. as well as review code changes, perform tests, etc.

I did switch harness at some point because I previously used Cline which was dog slow and unstable.

I do not use OpenRouter or anything like that.

I have dabbled a bit with local models on my MBP M3 but with 24 GB RAM, the models I were able to run were both too slow and poor quality.

My setup is probably hopelessly suboptimal.

I would love to get feedback and hear if there are obvious low-effort improvements.

I've built a web-based control room for a single developer to run multiple agents from multiple vendors behind a single pane of glass. It keeps the record of every session, puts whatever needs you in one queue, gives each new session the context it needs, and shows you what got done while you were away. Completely vibe-coded (Ruby on Rails), but very productive.

I use xAI and OpenAI subscriptions, switching between them, even mid session, using my Lunar harness: https://github.com/gszr/lunar. This is a very productive setup for me. As it also supports API keys, I throw in other models in the mix when I want to play around. I have not incorporated an orchestrator in my workflow, but I can see the appeal.

1. claude pro, ollama pro and opencode go 2. Openrouter for testing 3. I use VScode and claude code 4. I've actually built my own for agentic workflows - https://vectorstep.io 5. I use openclaw for my personal stuff, VectorStep for proper trusted workflows (and production workflows)

1) None.

2) Yes, trying different models and harnesses through many providers (free/trial). mimo-v2.6-flash, minimax-m3.1-flash, glm-5.3-flash, deepseek-v4.1-flash, gpt-oss:120b, nemotron-3.5.-super-vl.120b-a12b, and others.

3) Mostly eca.dev on Emacs, and Claude Code at work. Now trying the OpenCode one too.

4) No.

5) No.

I rotated over many LLM providers and tried out different harnesses, but I always come back to an honest Claude Pro subscription, plus the work account that gives me a GitHub Copilot Enterprise seat. I make sure to always have access to the agent, so it never runs on my laptop. I literally can't stand how GPT sounds confident and gets a crucial piece wrong every time. If I could afford the hardware, I would've probably set up a local LLM rig, but good ones that promise Fable-level inference are out of reach for me.

I haven't seen a lot of improvement by increasing the orchestration layers, honestly. Am I missing something?

At work I main Opus 5.5 on Claude Desktop app. I have joined my current job 2 months ago and I literally never opened any IDE.

Personally I own a Ultra plan on Claude and a 200 plan on Codex (400 dollars month).

I run them from their native desktop apps, no longer I use any terminal app to run them.

I have not opened a IDE for months now, any diff I need to check I use the Github PR.

In the personal level I use the agents for everything, basically the only thing that I still do on my computer outside of agents is consuming content like HackerNews, random forums, reddit or youtube. All the rest: sending emails, reading them, filling forms, configuring apis, submitting apps to stores ( run a couple of successful mobile apps), building them... Is all done by the agents on my behalf.

Crazy world we live in eh?

Tried the popular agents and paid models for some time, and now settled with a local model (Qwen3.8-27B-Q_6) and opencode desktop.

My work doesn't really require ultra super-intelligent models, or one-shot solutions. It's a standard python API, web app and some strict compliance requirements and tons of test cases. I have time to give the Q27B a few iterations. I monitor the progress and give directions while it keeps chugging off for about 30 mins for each medium-hard task. But I like the results. Exactly what is needed. It also allows me work on high-level stuff.

1) 2x Claude Max 20x + Chatgpt Pro 2) I dabble with open-code and hermes especially to try out the free models. 3) I use vanilla claude with an orchestrator on top 4) https://github.com/mhalstrom/maximizepm 5) I use Hermes. - I use hermes as a "free" agent platforms as you can easily connect your chagpt sub and claude max plans come with api usage you can hook up. In my website https://app.toolscaled.com/docs/agents/how-agents-work/ instead of re-implementing agents and paying API costs you can hook up your automations to push to hermes, claude routines or chatgpt's equlvalent essentially getting agents for free which you can then incrementally convert them to workflows.