For simple scripts, it often costs me under $1 to build. I'm working on a bigger tool these days, and I've done lots of prompts, a decent amount of code, over 100 tests, and my running total is right now under $6.
I'd suggest learn the basics of using AI to code using Aider, and then consider whether you want to try Claude Code (which is likely more powerful, but also more expensive unless you use it all the time).
The monkey brain part of me that really doesn't trust an LLM and trusts my decades of hard-won programming experience also prefers using Aider because the usage flow generally goes:
1. Iterate with Aider on a plan
2. Tell Aider to write code
3. Review the code
4. Continue hacking myself until I want to delegate something to an LLM again.
5. Head back to Step 1.
Codex automates this flow significantly but it's also a lot more expensive. Just the little bits of guiding I offer an LLM through Aider can make the whole process a lot cheaper.
It's unclear to me whether the full agentic Claude Code/Codex style approach will win or whether Aider's more carefully guided approach will win in the marketplace of ideas, but as a pretty experienced engineer Aider seems to be the sweet spot between cost, impact, and authorial input.
Even with Aider, I feel it goes too fast and I sometimes actively slow it down (by giving it only very incremental changes rather than get it to do a larger chunk). I think I'd be totally lost with a more powerful agentic tool.
I’ve been using it with Aider and am struggling to even spend my first $5.