Comparison
ccusage vs tokencheat CLI
ccusage reports what your coding agents already spent, read from their local logs. The tokencheat CLI audits the instruction files that drive that spend on every request. One measures the bill; the other finds the always-on context behind it.
Last verified: 2026-09-19
| ccusage | tokencheat CLI | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Token and cost reports from local agent logs | Scores and rewrites agent instruction files |
| Pricing | Free, open source (MIT) | Free; runs from a repo checkout (not yet on npm) |
| Reads instructions from | Local usage logs of Claude Code and 17 other agent CLIs | CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, SKILL.md and similar files |
What each one reads
ccusage reads the JSONL usage logs coding agents write locally — for Claude Code, the projects folders under ~/.claude and ~/.config/claude — and turns them into daily, weekly, monthly and per-session reports of tokens and estimated cost, with a per-model breakdown and JSON output. It now covers 18 agent CLIs, including Codex, Gemini CLI and Copilot CLI. Run it with npx ccusage@latest.
The tokencheat CLI never reads transcripts or logs. It finds agent instruction files on disk and scores one with the same engine as the browser audit at tokencheat.com/audit, printing a conservative rewrite without changing the file. It makes no network requests.
Using them together
The two answer consecutive questions. ccusage tells you a session was expensive; the audit tells you whether a bloated or contradictory instruction file was riding along on every turn of it. Fix the file, then watch the next week of ccusage reports.
FAQ
- Can I use both?
- Yes. They read different inputs — ccusage reads usage logs, tokencheat reads instruction files — so there is no overlap to manage.
- Does the tokencheat CLI upload anything?
- No. It contains no network code. The browser audit at tokencheat.com/audit is the zero-install alternative and also keeps pasted text in the browser.
Sources
Prices and product details verified against these pages on 2026-09-19. Vendors change pricing often — check the source before you buy.