Free model picker

Opus, Sonnet, or opusplan? Answer 5 questions to find out

Five quick questions mirror the exact AND-gate a Claude Code coach hook would check before ever suggesting a downgrade. No silent switching - just a straight answer and why.

Where are you with this task right now?

This decides whether there's a downgrade route to even check.

Recommended next step

A clean setup is just the beginning.

UsageCut trims that for free. Want Claude Code to be genuinely better, not just leaner? ClockedCode is the curated, conflict-free setup - installed in one paste.

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How the verdict is decided

Five conditions, all-or-nothing

Most "Opus vs Sonnet" advice is a vibe - someone's subjective "I tried both" take. This tool is a decision rule instead: it walks the same plan / scope / spec / safety / history checklist that decides whether a Sonnet subagent is actually safe to spin up, and answering "no" or "not sure" on any single one is enough to keep the whole task on Opus. That's on purpose - a wrong downgrade risks poisoning the rest of a session, so ambiguity always resolves to the safer, more expensive model.

The two downgrade destinations aren't interchangeable. See when Claude Code subagents actually save tokens for the delegation math behind the subagent route, or what plan mode actually costs for why opusplan's Opus-then-Sonnet split lines up cleanly with an approved plan. For the dollar gap between the two models on your own usage pattern, run the Opus vs Sonnet cost calculator.

Free tools

More free tools for Claude Code

Small, focused, no-signup tools from the maker of ClockedCode. Free to use, forever.

UsageCutScan your real Claude Code setup and see exactly where your tokens are wasted, then cut it losslessly.Claude Code Cost CalculatorEstimate your monthly Claude Code cost from sessions per day and workload, and see whether Pro, Max, or API pricing wins.CLAUDE.md Token CounterPaste your CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md to count its tokens and see which sections look conditional enough to move out.MCP Server Token Cost CheckerPaste your mcpServers config to see the estimated token cost per server, worst first, with tool-search deferred loading on or off.CLAUDE.md GeneratorAnswer a few questions about your stack and get a CLAUDE.md scoped to just that, with a live token cost per section.Context Window CalculatorSee what percent of your context window is used, your headroom before compaction, and the cache-read cost of carrying it.Usage Limit CalculatorProject your Claude Code usage-limit headroom across Pro, Max 5x, and Max 20x from your own baseline and Anthropic's confirmed usage multiplier.Subagent Cost CalculatorSee whether spawning N Claude Code subagents actually saves tokens versus doing the same work in one session, using the measured 216-token subagent overhead.Token Usage AnalyzerPaste lines from a Claude Code session transcript to see the token breakdown by cause: conversation text vs tool output, tool output by Read/Bash/agent calls, and duplicate file reads.Best MCP Servers for Claude CodeBrowse popular Claude Code MCP servers by category and see each one's estimated token cost per session, sorted worst to best.Hook Token Cost CalculatorPaste your hooks config to see the estimated token cost per hook, worst first, classified by how often each event actually fires.Tool Search Token Savings CalculatorPaste your mcpServers config to see how many tokens Claude Code's tool search saves by deferring schemas, and whether a custom auto:N threshold would load them upfront instead.Opus vs Sonnet Cost CalculatorSee the dollar gap between running Claude Code on Opus vs Sonnet, plus the honest (not naive) savings from pinning just the Sonnet-safe turns.

More free Claude Code tools are on the way - built one at a time by a solo dev who ships daily.

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Model picker FAQ

About the AND-gate

Is this the same thing a coach hook would actually check?

Yes - it's the exact AND-gate (plan, scope, spec, safety, history) from UsageCut's own model-router feasibility plan, the same checklist a non-intercepting coach hook would run on every turn. This wizard just runs it once, by hand, so you can see the logic before installing anything.

Why can't Claude Code just switch models automatically per turn?

No Claude Code hook can set the next turn's model - the complete hook-output schema (verified against v2.1.191) has no model field on any event. The only way to rewrite it transparently is intercepting the API call, and that would also lose money: cache reads are 94% of billed tokens, and switching models forces an uncached re-read that erases the savings - modeled honestly, per-turn routing comes out to -122%.

What's the actual difference between the subagent route and opusplan?

Both are cache-safe, no-proxy mechanisms for different situations. A subagent runs in its own separate cache, so it's the answer when you're delegating a bounded step. opusplan switches on permission mode automatically - Opus in plan mode, Sonnet in execution - once you're executing an approved plan in your main session, with no extra config.

Why does answering "not sure" always land on Opus?

Because a downgrade only holds when every AND-gate condition is confirmed true - ambiguity resolves to Opus by design, since a wrong downgrade can poison the rest of a session. The wizard mirrors that: skipping a question fails it, same as answering no.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Is UsageCut really free?

Yes. The scan and every fix are free - no card, no subscription, no signup. You only give an email if you want the optimization plan and one-command undo sent to your inbox.

Is my code safe? Does UsageCut upload anything?

The scan runs entirely on your machine. It never uploads your code, never reads your API key, and never sends your prompts or conversations anywhere. Only anonymous summary counts leave, and only if you choose to share them.

How does it reduce Claude Code token usage?

It reads your local setup and session history to find waste - idle MCP servers loaded into every session, an oversized CLAUDE.md re-sent on every request, duplicate file reads, and bloated tool output - then trims it losslessly, so each session carries less context and you hit your limit far less often.

What is ClockedCode?

ClockedCode is the curated, conflict-free Claude Code setup from the same maker. UsageCut makes your current setup leaner; ClockedCode makes it genuinely better - a set of hand-picked tools, specialist agents, and a tuned CLAUDE.md, installed in one paste.

Who is ClockedCode for?

Developers who use Claude Code daily and want a setup that is powerful out of the box instead of spending hours researching and wiring up plugins, agents, and MCP servers themselves.

What's included in ClockedCode?

A vetted, conflict-free bundle of hand-picked tools, specialist agents, and a tuned CLAUDE.md - everything installed together in one paste, with no setup archaeology.

Is ClockedCode a one-time payment?

Yes. ClockedCode is a one-time purchase with an instant download - no subscription and no recurring fees.

Does ClockedCode work with my existing setup?

Yes. It installs alongside what you already have and is fully reversible. Run UsageCut first to clean your current setup, then add ClockedCode to level it up.