> DeepSeek Flash 0731 as the implementer

MiniMax's "token plan" ($20/mo for 1.7b tokens) is cost competitive. MiniMax M3 is equally good, if not better than DeepSeek v4, at coding: https://platform.minimax.io/subscribe/token-plan?tab=individ...

If you prefer pay-as-you-go, then Xiaomi MiMo is the only other provider with comparable models (MiMo v2.5 & Pro) that matches DeepSeek's current API rates for input/output/cache: https://mimo.mi.com/docs/price/pay-as-you-go

Meanwhile, Meta is running a 10x discount on Muse Spark 1.2 (Grok 4.5 / Sonnet 5 level model), if you opt-in to data sharing: https://dev.meta.ai/docs/getting-started/pricing-rate-limits

> I'm OK spending max $100/month on APIs, ideally with Zero data retention.

In that case, probably you'll get more out of OpenAI's coding plan, as (from what I hear routinely) the GPT 5.6 series is thrifty with token use but as smart as the Claude 5 series: https://x.com/ArtificialAnlys/status/2085083490056589784 / https://archive.vn/3VDlN