# High-Spending AI Developers Logged More Pull Requests at Much Higher Cost

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/45466
Published: 2026-10-31T11:55:13.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-31T11:55:13.000Z
Section: Technology

> A Q1 2026 analysis of 12,000 developers found that the highest-spending group averaged 23 merged pull requests, compared with 11 in the lowest-spending group.

AI token spending varied widely among developers in Q1 2026. The highest-spending fifth averaged about twice as many merged pull requests as the lowest-spending fifth, while its calculated cost per merged pull request was much higher.

An analysis covering 12,000 developers at 200 companies estimated monthly AI token costs at $52.38 for the median developer and $691.14 at the 90th percentile.

For the quarterly group comparison, developers in the lowest-spending 20% spent about $3 and averaged 11 merged pull requests. Those in the highest-spending 20% spent $1,822 and averaged 23. The calculated cost per merged pull request was $0.28 for the lower-spending group and $89.32 for the higher-spending group.

A merged pull request is a code change accepted into a software project. The figures compare spending and merge counts across groups; they do not show that higher token use caused more output or assess the value or quality of the changes. The monthly percentile estimates and quarterly group totals describe different measurements.