'Token discipline will not emerge through developer choice alone': Experts predict that AI coding costs will overtake developer salaries by 2028

Date:
Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:33:15 +0000

Description:
Companies don't even have visibility into how much AI coding is costing them as it reaches developer salaries by 2028.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter AI coding tools set to outcost developer salaries by 2028 Usage- and out-come based token pricing to blame Software vendors don't currently provide enough visibility Gartner predicts that AI coding tools could cost more than the average developer's salary by
as soon as 2028, driven by both an increased volume of license fees and
growth in token consumption as vendors shift to usage- and outcome-based pricing.

With every code generation, refinement and debugging exercise consuming tokens, organizations are ending up paying a premium to use productivity-boosting AI. And analysts are warning that many companies significantly underestimate how quickly token usage grows once AI coding becomes commonplace. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: AI coding is more expensive than paying a developer "Software engineering leaders are increasingly concerned as token-driven AI spend becomes harder to justify, with budgets often being depleted earlier than expected," Senior Principal Analyst Nitish Tyagi explained.

This comes as businesses shift from pilots to widespread deployment, and more developers become reliant on AI as part of their daily workflows. You may
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While companies face higher costs, they're ultimately rewarded with higher outcome. Developers cite faster delivery, convenience and better code generation as core benefits, and they're now unlikely to voluntarily reduce token usage if it means they'd slow down.

"Token discipline will not emerge through developer choice alone, as developers tend to optimise for speed and convenience over cost efficiency," Tyagi added, noting the need for organizational governance. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get
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The report also reveals some industry shortcomings; specifically, that
vendors don't provide enough visibility into how tokens are counted. As a result, companies struggle to predict how much they're going to spend and optimize usage accordingly.

Until now, AI has grown its reach across coding, but soaring costs could change things as companies scale back to hit the sweet spot, keeping costs under control and protecting human roles. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/token-discipline-will-not-emerge-through-develop er-choice-alone-experts-predict-that-ai-coding-costs-will-overtake-developer-s alaries-by-2028


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