Pareto GHC Comparator

A desktop VS Code extension for comparing coding-assistant models. Pick a task and compare benchmark quality against estimated usage cost on a Pareto chart.

Sources: GitHub Copilot (live discovery), OpenCode (live CLI discovery with Zen USD pricing), plus known-model registries that need no connection — Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider references, and Amazon Q Developer references. Static registries show a priori known company models with illustrative API-equivalent USD estimates, never account availability.

Preview

Webview preview captured with live Artificial Analysis data. The ten catalog models and reasoning variants were selected explicitly for illustration; this preview does not represent a signed-in account's discovered Copilot availability. Benchmark scores and the data retrieval date appear in the extension.

Quick start

Requires VS Code 1.100 or newer with GitHub Copilot Chat. See Getting started for the full setup walkthrough.

1. Install pareto-ghc-comparator.vsix via Extensions: Install from VSIX….
2. Run Pareto GHC: Open Model Comparison and set your Artificial Analysis Free API key.
3. Pick a source (Copilot, OpenCode, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, or Amazon Q), task, billing mode, and token workload, then select a chart point or table row to inspect the tradeoff. The default chart mirrors Artificial Analysis (Intelligence vs. cost per task with the most attractive quadrant highlighted); switch to Quality vs. workload cost for your own token mix. The Tool analysis tab holds this everyday workflow, is first in the tab order, and stays open by default; Compare tools, Plan & budget, Usage, and Settings hold the rest (see Layout). Use the grouped model checklist (family → model → thinking level, with search and bulk selection), chart display settings, cost breakdown, CSV/snapshot/badge/PNG exports, cost-per-quality table sort, pricing-freshness alerts, benchmark score drift, and (for OpenCode) the free-tier spotlight plus explicit BYOK rates for provider-billed models. Scan Local Copilot Usage optionally reports your own on-machine request and token totals (opt-in, local-only, erasable).

An unresolved model explains why (no catalog entry, ambiguous entry, no alias match, or a selection that disappeared) and, when the Artificial Analysis slug exactly matches the model's own identifier, offers an unverified suggestion you explicitly apply or reset — a benchmark choice never sets a price. Unpriced provider-billed OpenCode models get the same treatment for pricing: a same-identifier static-registry rate, applied with visible provenance and flagged (not silently updated) if the registry rate later changes. See User guide.

The optional Monthly spending scenario card projects plan fee plus expected usage against a documented Copilot plan's allowance and overage rate (or your own Custom plan figures), with every field labelled provider-verified, your input, observed history, or a displayed estimate — always a projection, never a bill. See Billing and User guide.

Local usage scanning requires consent in a modal prompt. Erase Local Copilot Usage stops queued and active scans before completing deletion; session deletions also refresh watched totals. Only my models filters comparison results while preserving all thinking-level checklist selections.

Usage-based budget suggestions include free requests in the percentile and can suggest a zero budget.

Compare options

On the Compare tools tab, enable Compare options to keep two named alternatives (A/B) visible. Tool A and Tool B pick each option's source directly, right there on the tab; Editing A / B picks which option the rest of the controls (task, billing, filters, workload, and every other tab) apply to, or load a saved workload into it. Sources, selections, filters, billing, and workloads are independent; the score preset and task/workload chart basis are shared. The last pair is remembered separately, and leaving this mode restores your single view. The View control picks how results are shown: Side by side (default) draws two independent charts, or Overlay superimposes both options on one chart with each option's own Pareto frontier plus a combined frontier across both, for seeing at a glance which tool wins at a given cost. When A and B bill in different units, Show USD equivalents optionally converts AI credits to USD at the documented pay-as-you-go rate (never legacy premium requests) so a comparison delta is still shown, labelled and separate from the native cost — the overlay's axis converts the same way when the two options' units differ — see docs/billing.md for the rate, allowance treatment, and what still stays separate.

Select one row in each panel (or click a point on the overlay chart) to see B minus A quality and cost differences. Cost differences require matching units and effective workloads; incompatible options retain separate frontiers with an explanation. CSV and snapshot exports include both options and their assumptions, PNG exports whichever view is active (two charts, or the overlay), and badge export names the active option.

Usage completeness diagnostics distinguish malformed records, unsupported or unreadable files, stale retained contributions, missing tokens, and legacy text estimates. Prefill and sampled credit budgets use fully observed prompt/output pairs, including explicit zeros. Older usage caches are rescanned only with existing consent. Native OpenCode discovery supports platform-specific PATH resolution, a global npm install's node_modules\opencode-ai\bin\opencode.exe layout on Windows, and the home-directory fallback; script-only .cmd/.ps1/.bat shims are not supported. Verified in CI on Linux, macOS, and Windows; see Testing.

Guides

• Website — project landing page.
• Getting started — install, API key, model mapping.
• User guide — recommendations, saved workload profiles, reading the chart.
• Billing estimates — AI-credit, legacy, and OpenCode USD formulas.
• Data, refresh, and privacy — benchmark source, caching, failure handling.
• Development — local build, tests, and VS Code tasks.
• Testing — focused runs, coverage, and validation sequences.
• CI and Marketplace releases — workflow and publishing.
• Maintaining the catalog — pricing and benchmark-alias updates.
• Roadmap — planned work.

Development

Use Node.js 22 or newer and npm. No API key is needed for automated tests. See Development and contributor guidance.

npm ci
npm run check
npm test
npm run build

License

Extension code: MIT. Benchmarks: Artificial Analysis, subject to its API terms. Pricing: GitHub documentation. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for bundled library licenses.