5 Days Left: How to Get Your Boss to Pay for Grok Code
Make a business case for why you're able to do more with AI coding.
September 10th. That's when the free ride on Grok Code Fast ends.
You've been using it…a lot! Grok Code Fast has quickly taken over 66% of Kilo Code’s token usage. You know what 100-200 tokens per second (TPS) feels like. You've watched it tear through complex file reads and edits while other models are still thinking. Now you need your company to pay for it.
Here's the thing: when it comes to budget approval, metrics like TPS and a 256K token context window aren’t the metrics that matter most. What matters is shipping features and hitting deadlines. So let's speak that language.
The Math is Simple
Grok Code Fast costs $0.20 per million input tokens and $1.50 per million output tokens. For a typical developer, that's maybe $25-100 per month on the high end. Less than an hour of your time. In our simulation, 97% of Kilo users with Grok need at most $100 a month in credit.
If Grok saves you just 1 hour per week (and let's be honest, it's saving you way more), that's 40+ hours annually. And given the average total cost of a developer, we're talking thousands in productivity gains for a hundred-buck investment.
Your boss likes 50x returns, right? But even better, they like shipping on time and actually hitting your Q4 targets. And let’s be real, we all love to deliver results.
What Actually Matters
Look at last week. Pull up your git history. How many PRs did you ship? How many of those had Grok's fingerprints on them?
I'm guessing most of them.
That refactoring job that would've taken all afternoon? Twenty minutes with Grok handling the tedious parts. The test suite you've been avoiding? Grok cranked it out while you got coffee. That terminal command you always forget? Grok knew it instantly.
Document this. Screenshot it. Make it real for your leadership team.
The Ask
Here's what works:
Timing: Ask now. Today, if possible. Your manager needs time to process the expense, and September 10th is Wednesday.
Framing: This isn't "another AI tool." This is the tool you're already using that's about to disappear. You're not asking for something new - you're asking to keep something that's working.
The Backup: If they balk at individual licenses, mention Kilo Teams is coming soon* for consolidated billing. But honestly? Just get your own expense approved first.
*a little birdy told me it will be out by this time next week
The Email That Gets It Done
Copy, paste, customize. While Grok Code Fast is still free, you can view your estimated usage on your Kilo Code profile:
With that, you can email your boss with this email. You can also use this website to make the email for you - just fill out some details about what you’ve built so far.
Subject: Request for Grok Code - Productivity Tool Investment
Hi [Manager Name],
I've been using Grok Code Fast inside Kilo Code during their free trial, and it's significantly improved my development velocity. The free access ends September 10th, and I'd like to request budget approval to continue.
Quick Impact Summary:
• Current productivity gain: **[X hours saved per week]**
• Recent projects accelerated: **[List 2-3 specific examples]**
• Cost: ~$[X]/month based on my usage patterns
• ROI: Time saved equals roughly $[Y] in developer hours monthly
Specific examples from this week:
- [Project/PR #1]: Reduced implementation time from X hours to Y
- [Project/PR #2]: Automated [specific task] that usually takes Z hours
- [Complex debugging/refactoring task]: Completed in [timeframe]
Kilo Code has become integral to my workflow, particularly for [specific use cases like file editing, terminal operations, rapid prototyping].
Would you prefer individual reimbursement or should we explore Kilo Teams for the whole department? Happy to discuss the specifics and show you some concrete examples.
Thanks for considering,
[Your name]The Reality Check
Your company spent more on your desk chair than a year of Grok Code would cost. They lose more productivity in a single unnecessary meeting than this entire expense.
But here's what they don't know yet: Grok Code Fast is crushing the competition. It hit #1 on OpenRouter's leaderboard. It's processing ~120 billion tokens a day via OpenRouter and growing.
And unlike other models that ship and then seem to stagnate or get sore, xAI has been shipping improvements daily since they launched “Sonic” as a stealth model. The model you’re using today is measurably better than the one from last week. And to top that off, when Elon tweets about your coding tool's performance, you know something big is happening.
This isn't about jumping on a bandwagon. It's about keeping the tool that's already making you faster.
Do It Now
Not tomorrow. Not after lunch. Now.
Open your email. Paste the template. Fill in your numbers. Send it.
In 5 days, Grok Code goes behind a paywall. You can either keep the momentum you've built or go back to the old way.
The email template is right there. Your productivity gains are real. Make the case.