Spend check / Sample memo
AI coding tool spend review: Example Co. (18 engineers)
Prepared by the DevTools Review team · inputs: three invoices and a 90-day usage export
1. Summary
Example Co. pays $1,632 a month ($19,584 a year) at list price for three AI coding tools. The changes below cut that by $666 a month ($7,992 a year) with no commitment, plus a further $70 a month ($840 a year) if you switch to annual billing. No tool is taken away from anyone who uses it. The review fee for a team this size is $299.
2. What you pay today
| Line | Seats | List / seat | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor Teams | 18 | $30 | $540 |
| GitHub Copilot Business | 18 | $19 | $342 |
| Claude Code, Team Premium seats | 6 | $125 | $750 |
| Total | $1,632 | ||
3. Findings and changes
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1. Copilot Business is paid on every seat, but only four people still use it
All 18 engineers have both Cursor Teams and Copilot Business. The usage export shows 4 engineers using Copilot, all in JetBrains IDEs, where Cursor doesn't run. Keep Copilot for those 4 and remove the other 14 seats.
Saves $266/month · $3,192/year
-
2. Four of the six Claude Code Premium seats sit within Standard limits
Premium seats are $125/month; Standard seats are $25/month. Four of the six seat holders stayed inside Standard usage limits every month in the export. Move them to Standard and keep 2 Premium seats for the heavy users.
Saves $400/month · $4,800/year
-
3. Claude Code Team seats are billed monthly when annual is cheaper (conditional)
Anthropic prices Team seats lower when billed annually: Standard $20 instead of $25, Premium $100 instead of $125. For the recommended mix (4 Standard, 2 Premium), annual billing saves $5 × 4 + $25 × 2 a month. This one is conditional: it only holds if you commit for a year and the headcount stays stable.
Saves $70/month · $840/year
4. Also worth doing (no saving counted)
- Set a monthly usage cap per Cursor seat, so model calls billed at API rates can't run up an open-ended bill.
- Turn on price-change alerts for Cursor, Copilot and Claude Code, so a vendor repricing reaches you before the invoice does.
5. After the changes
$896 a month instead of $1,632. Against the $299 fee, the identified 12-month saving of $8,832 clears the guarantee threshold, so no refund would apply. Had it come in under $299, the fee would be refunded in full.