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The DIY alternative, not a tool
What Caveman gets you, vs. LemonCrow's runtime.
Caveman: a one-line terse-persona system prompt, no install. Tested head-to-head against LemonCrow's runtime on the same 20-prompt Telegraphic Q&A set.
The instruction itself
“Respond terse like smart caveman. All technical substance stay. Only fluff die.”
Free, zero install 47% avg output-token cut, 16pp stdev -- consistent Compresses replies only -- LemonCrow optimizes input tokens too,
not just output
All 20 prompts -- in/out tokens, turns, cost -- median of 5 reps,
same run as the flagship page (LemonCrow column highlighted)
"In" = summed prompt tokens (input + cache read + cache write). Split in BENCHMARKS.md.
| Prompt | Baseline | LemonCrow | Caveman |
|---|---|---|---|
| React re-render object prop | 20,811 in / 967 out
2 turns · $
0.068 | 20,542 in / 473 out
1 turns · $
0.039 ✓ | 22,792 in / 348 out
2 turns · $
0.072 |
| Express JWT expiry bug benchmarks | 70,873 in / 3,746 out
4 turns · $
0.269 | 20,250 in / 2,908 out
1 turns · $
0.099 ✓ | 22,821 in / 3,374 out
2 turns · $
0.148 |
| Postgres connection pool setup benchmarks | 20,803 in / 1,890 out
2 turns · $
0.091 | 20,230 in / 1,138 out
1 turns · $
0.055 ✓ | 22,785 in / 1,136 out
2 turns · $
0.092 |
| git rebase vs merge benchmarks | 20,804 in / 1,000 out
2 turns · $
0.069 | 20,227 in / 622 out
1 turns · $
0.043 ✓ | 22,786 in / 675 out
2 turns · $
0.080 |
| Callback -> async/await refactor benchmarks | 41,486 in / 673 out
3 turns · $
0.102 | 20,314 in / 165 out
1 turns · $
0.031 ✓ | 45,433 in / 357 out
3 turns · $
0.114 |
| Split a monolith into microservices benchmarks | 20,826 in / 1,575 out
2 turns · $
0.083 | 20,550 in / 963 out
1 turns · $
0.052 ✓ | 22,807 in / 962 out
2 turns · $
0.087 |
| PR security review benchmarks | 20,897 in / 1,129 out
2 turns · $
0.072 | 19,937 in / 364 out
1 turns · $
0.037 ✓ | 22,874 in / 605 out
2 turns · $
0.079 |
| Multi-stage Dockerfile benchmarks | 42,003 in / 1,561 out
3 turns · $
0.128 | 40,412 in / 845 out
2 turns · $
0.094 | 22,812 in / 703 out
2 turns · $
0.081 ✓ |
| Postgres counter race condition benchmarks | 20,827 in / 1,061 out
2 turns · $
0.070 | 19,904 in / 480 out
1 turns · $
0.037 ✓ | 22,803 in / 530 out
2 turns · $
0.077 |
| React error boundary component benchmarks | 104,394 in / 2,327 out
6 turns · $
0.193 | 89,687 in / 1,096 out
4 turns · $
0.166 ✓ | 91,630 in / 2,035 out
5 turns · $
0.187 |
| Why re-render on parent update? eval | 20,772 in / 738 out
2 turns · $
0.062 | 19,870 in / 429 out
1 turns · $
0.036 ✓ | 22,752 in / 349 out
2 turns · $
0.072 |
| Explain connection pooling eval | 20,758 in / 1,267 out
2 turns · $
0.075 | 19,863 in / 721 out
1 turns · $
0.044 ✓ | 22,737 in / 233 out
2 turns · $
0.069 |
| TCP vs UDP eval | 20,764 in / 868 out
2 turns · $
0.065 | 19,867 in / 369 out
1 turns · $
0.034 ✓ | 22,743 in / 269 out
2 turns · $
0.070 |
| Node.js memory leak eval | 20,779 in / 1,285 out
2 turns · $
0.076 | 19,874 in / 713 out
1 turns · $
0.043 ✓ | 22,757 in / 693 out
2 turns · $
0.081 |
| SQL EXPLAIN eval | 20,769 in / 900 out
2 turns · $
0.066 | 19,871 in / 472 out
1 turns · $
0.037 ✓ | 22,749 in / 497 out
2 turns · $
0.076 |
| Hash table collisions eval | 20,762 in / 871 out
2 turns · $
0.065 | 19,865 in / 309 out
1 turns · $
0.033 ✓ | 22,743 in / 470 out
2 turns · $
0.075 |
| CORS errors eval | 20,770 in / 876 out
2 turns · $
0.065 | 19,870 in / 603 out
1 turns · $
0.042 ✓ | 22,751 in / 539 out
2 turns · $
0.077 |
| Debounce a search input eval | 20,772 in / 752 out
2 turns · $
0.062 | 19,869 in / 291 out
1 turns · $
0.033 ✓ | 22,751 in / 332 out
2 turns · $
0.071 |
| git rebase vs merge (eval) eval | 20,764 in / 775 out
2 turns · $
0.063 | 19,866 in / 437 out
1 turns · $
0.037 ✓ | 22,745 in / 403 out
2 turns · $
0.073 |
| Queue vs topic eval | 20,773 in / 909 out
2 turns · $
0.066 | 19,872 in / 484 out
1 turns · $
0.037 ✓ | 22,753 in / 344 out
2 turns · $
0.072 |
| Average, all 20 | 29,232 in / 1,279 out
2.38 turns · $0.089 | 24,766 in / 690 out
1.2 turns · $0.053 ✓ | 27,385 in / 729 out
2.2 turns · $0.088 |
✓ marks the cheapest arm on that exact prompt. LemonCrow wins 19 of 20. Full per-suite cost/turn breakdown in the flagship page.
The true story
Same prompts, same model, same 5-rep methodology as every other number on this site -- baseline, LemonCrow, caveman, one run. Raw data, all 20 prompts, every arm →