Inference + agent-loop cost narrative: stack pricing gaps
What happened
2026 discourse keeps circling the same gap: list prices hide agent-loop burn (plan → tool → retry → summarize). Teams comparing Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code, and raw API stacks are discovering total cost of ownership diverges hard once agents run unattended.
Switch or not?
Don’t switch tools for a $20 sticker difference — switch (or split) when your measured $/merged-PR or $/resolved-ticket diverges for 2+ weeks.
Money / risk
Hidden multipliers: tool-call tax, context stuffing, failed loops. Budget a hard monthly cap per seat and log agent token use.
Source
ToolGap orientation · verify independently