AI Summary
Can Open Source Models Beat Opus at a Fraction of the Cost?
Full Summary
Key Quotes
« So, we're going to use a very unscientific test that I devised. It's not a benchmark. We'll call it a a Burke mark. »
Burke Holland introducing his test methodology.
« So, the question is, which models are we looking at and how much do they cost? »
Burke Holland introducing the comparison of different AI models.
« So, when we say OBUS is expensive, it is really expensive and I don't think that people understand how expensive it is. »
Burke Holland discussing the cost of Claude Opus.
« So, for me, the winner of this whole thing is Quinn 27 billion. it is the cheapest one to use and we might be able to run it locally. »
Burke Holland concluding his comparison of AI models.
« Tons of lowcost alternatives out there. None of them are a drop-in replacement for Opus. I'm sorry, it's expensive. You get what you pay for, but as you can see, we can get really, really close. »
Burke Holland summarizing the findings on open-source models versus Opus.
Resources mentioned in the video
tool
Copilot CLI
A command-line interface tool used to interact with AI models for coding tasks.
other
Kimmy K26
An open-source AI model from Moonshot AI, evaluated in the video.
other
Minimax M2.7
An open-source AI model evaluated in the video for its cost-effectiveness.
other
GLM 5.1
An open-source AI model from Zhipu AI, showing strong performance in the evaluation.
other
Quinn 36 27B
A 27 billion parameter open-source AI model, highlighted for its feasibility for local execution and cost.
other
Deepseek V4 Pro
A recently released open-source AI model with a large context window, evaluated in the video.
other
Claude Opus
A high-performance AI model used as a baseline for comparison due to its high cost.
website
OpenRouter
A platform used to access and compare various AI models via API, used for cost evaluation in the video.
Glossary
Parameters (Active vs. Total)
Total parameters represent the entire model size, while active parameters are those utilized during inference, impacting performance and efficiency.
Context Window
The amount of text (measured in tokens) that a model can consider at one time when processing input and generating output.
Tokens
Units of text (words or parts of words) that AI models process. Costs are often calculated per million input or output tokens.
Plan Mode (Copilot CLI)
A feature within the Copilot CLI that allows the AI to create a plan or roadmap for completing a task before execution.
Autopilot and Fleet (Copilot CLI)
Autopilot is described as the CLI's version of a reinforcement learning loop, while Fleet is the built-in orchestration for parallel task execution.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The 'Burke mark' was an unscientific test devised by Burke Holland to subjectively evaluate and compare the performance and cost of various open-source AI models against Claude Opus for building a specific web application.
While none were a perfect drop-in replacement for Opus, GLM 5.1 and Quinn 27B showed strong results. Quinn 27B was particularly impressive given its smaller size and potential for local execution, offering a great balance of cost and performance.
The primary drawback of Claude Opus was its extremely high cost, making it prohibitively expensive for many use cases, despite its top-tier performance.
According to the video, none of the evaluated open-source models are a complete drop-in replacement for Opus. However, they can get 'really, really close' in performance and functionality at a fraction of the cost.
Minimax M2.7 was the cheapest model tested, costing only $1.37 to build the application via API. Quinn 27B was the second cheapest at $4.90.
