Ada
> < v0.1.23 · Windows, macOS, Linux
Ada is a desktop editor built around a coding agent that maps your repository once, sends only what a turn actually needs, and routes to any of 340+ models. Every change lands in its own git worktree until you merge it.
> < 01 / what one request carries
Both agents were asked to summarise the same project, on the same machine, from matched git checkouts. This is what each one put on the wire.
3× less sent. Ada's entire request is smaller than the part of the other request that exists before any work has happened.
> < 02 / how
No permanent system prompt riding along on every turn. Ada assembles each request from scratch, so a short question costs what a short question should — “hi” is about 272 tokens, tools and repo map included, because neither is sent.
Every tool you expose is re-sent on every request. An ordinary coding turn carries 1,772 tokens of schemas instead of 3,848 — decks, documents, images, notebooks, the browser and the design corpus stay out until the conversation asks, each behind its own trigger.
Opening a project builds a compact map of files and symbols, and the semantic index runs a local embedding model — no embedding API bill, ever, and your code never leaves the machine to be indexed.
Asked for a presentation, Ada calls its deck writer and hands back a real
.pptx: $0.28 against $1.25 for an agent hand-writing slide markup.
Same for lookups — the map answers without opening files.
> < 03 / the editor
File tree, Monaco, fuzzy open, find-in-files, an integrated terminal. No learning curve. What's different is the pane on the right.
Ctrl+P for files, Ctrl+Shift+F for text across the project.
> < 04 / the benchmark
Ada against Claude Code — same machine, same model (Opus 4.7), same prompts, matched git worktrees at the same commit. Every run, including the one Ada lost.
| Task | Ada in | Ada cost | Other in | Other cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summarise the project | 31,856 | $0.2046 | 95,941 | $0.5291 |
| Create a pricing API | 206,954 | $1.2340 | 424,706 | $1.5339 |
| Tetris game | 109,041 | $0.7634 | 95,708 | $0.6885 |
| Portfolio website | 57,075 | $0.5674 | 128,389 | $0.6738 |
| Project presentation | 38,726 | $0.2807 | 148,150 | $1.2517 |
| Total | 443,652 | $3.0501 | 892,894 | $4.6770 |
Read the Tetris row closely. It's the one task that cost more — by seven cents — and it shipped 6.7× the code: 630 lines against 94, with a next-piece preview, levels, a ghost piece, pause and wall-kick rotation the cheaper build doesn't have. Per hundred lines delivered that's $0.12 against $0.73. Tasks anchored in existing code ran 16–78% cheaper, and the gap widens as a codebase grows.
Read the full report — screenshots, method, limits →> < 05 / download
Install and chat immediately with the free models — no account. Sign in with GitHub to unlock the full catalogue.
macOS builds are signed and notarized by Apple. On Windows, if SmartScreen appears, choose More info → Run anyway. Ada updates itself from then on. All versions.