Claude Code uses 4.7 times more tokens than OpenCode at start

Tech site systima tested Claude Code and OpenCode on July 12, using the same prompts and AI model (Claude Sonnet 4.5). They found Claude Code uses about 4.7 times more tokens before handling user requests than OpenCode.

Claude Code's first request includes system prompts and 27 tool descriptions, using about 32,800 tokens total. Tool descriptions alone take up 24,000 tokens. Even with all tools off, its system prompts still use about 6,500 tokens. OpenCode only has 10 tool descriptions and uses about 6,900 tokens total.

In real use, a 72KB instruction file (like AGENTS.md) adds about 20,000 tokens per request, and 5 regular MCP setups add another 5,000-7,000 tokens. So before a user types anything, the system already uses 75,000 to 85,000 tokens, which is about 16.5% of the 200,000-token context window.