I Built a Lightning-Fast AI Coding Workflow with 2000 TPS Using OpenCode CLI and Cerebras Qwen3 Coder
I've lost count of how many AI coding assistants I've tried. Most left me disappointed—either painfully slow, or they'd start imposing restrictions, or worse, force you to pay to keep using them.
That changed when I tried the OpenCode CLI + Cerebras-hosted Qwen3 Coder combination. For the first time, I experienced what "smooth" really means: code generation speeds of up to 2000 Tokens Per Second, and free sign-up credits so you can experience top-tier performance without spending a penny.
Start building your high-performance, cost-effective AI coding workflow today:
This setup isn't a "magic bullet," but it's fast, open, and lets you easily build your own AI coding workflow right in the terminal—no subscription traps, no frustrating delays, just code appearing as fast as you can think.
The Terminal-First Approach: OpenCode CLI
The first piece of the puzzle was the interface. I decided to step away from integrated editor extensions entirely. The real power, I reasoned, lay in the terminal. A command-line interface (CLI) is the universal language of developers. It’s editor-agnostic, resource-light, and infinitely scriptable. This led me to OpenCode, an open-source AI coding CLI that felt like a breath of fresh air.
Its beauty is its simplicity. Because it operates in the terminal, I am never locked into a specific editor. Whether I’m in VS Code, Neovim, or just SSH'd into a remote server, my AI assistant is always there, available with the same consistent commands. There's no learning curve to speak of; you chat with it, ask it to edit files, and it complies. More importantly, its open-source nature means I’m not at the mercy of a company’s roadmap or pricing strategy. It’s a tool built by developers, for developers, and that ethos is evident in its design. There are no hidden agendas or future paywalls to worry about. I have total control over my workflow, today and tomorrow.
Benefits and Limitations of Cerebras
But a great interface is useless without a powerful engine behind it. This is where most developers get stuck, assuming that top-tier performance requires paying for access to proprietary models from giants like OpenAI or Anthropic. I needed a model provider that was not only fast and capable but also aligned with my goal of building a sustainable, low-cost system.
My search ended at a place I didn't expect: Cerebras.
For those unfamiliar, Cerebras is a serious player in the AI hardware space, known for building wafer-scale chips designed for massive AI workloads. They also run a model hosting service, and what I found there completely changed my perception of what was possible with freely available tools. They offer a startlingly generous free quota on a range of powerful models, with long context windows and an onboarding process that is almost frictionless. You can log in with a Google account, get an API key, and start working immediately. No credit card, no trial period, no nonsense.
The platform is already a known quantity, listed as a pre-configured provider in many development tools, which makes setup a breeze. Instead of wrestling with custom base URLs and obscure configuration settings for some unknown provider, you simply select "Cerebras" from a dropdown, paste your key, and you're done. This small detail speaks volumes about their commitment to the developer experience.
Unprecedented Performance: 2000 TPS with qwen-3-coder-480b
The real revelation was the performance. I connected OpenCode to the qwen-3-coder-480b model hosted on Cerebras, and the speed was simply staggering. While other services I'd used would painstakingly generate code at 50 or maybe 70 tokens per second, Cerebras was churning out responses at nearly 2000 tokens per second. The difference is not incremental; it is transformative. Code doesn't just appear; it materializes instantly. The lag that had plagued my workflow was gone. For the first time, I had an AI assistant that could truly keep up with my train of thought.
The model itself, qwen-3-coder-480b, is a testament to how far the open-source community has come. It represents a genuine challenge to the dominance of proprietary coding models like those in the Claude 3 family. Its ability to reason about complex code, manage dependencies, and even orchestrate tasks using other tools is on par with the best I've ever used. The combination of this brilliant open-source model with the hyper-optimized hosting from Cerebras created a result that was greater than the sum of its parts. I had found my perfect pair.
If you're curious to experience this near-instantaneous code generation for yourself, Cerebras offers an exceptionally straightforward onboarding process. You can get started immediately with just a Google account—no credit card required, no complex registration forms. This level of performance is genuinely free to try, making it well worth exploring: Click here to Sign up Cerebras
Limitations of Cerebras
However, Cerebras does have its limitations. For the free tier users, the context length is capped at 64k tokens, which may not be sufficient for extremely large codebases or complex multi-file operations. While this is adequate for trying out the service and light usage, it falls short for serious coding projects that require deeper context understanding. The qwen-3-coder-480b model specifically has a context window of 65,536 tokens, but free users can only access up to 64k tokens.
In terms of rate limits, free users are restricted as shown in the table below:
| Feature | Free Tier | Paid Tiers |
|---|---|---|
| Context Length | 64k tokens | 128k tokens |
qwen-3-coder-480b Rate Limits (Free Tier):
| Metric | Minute | Hour | Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Requests | 10 | 100 | 100 |
| Tokens | 150,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
While these limits are generous for casual use, they can become restrictive for heavy users or automated workflows. For developers who require more extensive usage, Cerebras does offer paid tiers with increased limits, including access to the full 128k token context window. However, for those seeking a completely free solution, the free tier is best suited for experimentation and light coding tasks rather than intensive development work.
Real-World Applications and Benefits
With this setup—the open-source OpenCode CLI as my interface and the free, lightning-fast Cerebras-hosted qwen-3-coder-480b as my engine—my daily work has been fundamentally altered. I use it for everything from scaffolding new demo projects to writing complex Playwright tests for web automation. When faced with a convoluted database migration or an arcane series of shell commands, I no longer have to break my focus to search for documentation. I can simply describe what I need, and the code is generated or the command is executed.
The benefits extend far beyond just writing code. Because the tool is text-based and lives in my terminal, it has become a general-purpose assistant. I use it to organize my desktop folders, perform quick data analysis on a CSV file, or even get help navigating a new command-line browser. It all works, and it all works seamlessly, without ever costing me a dime.
Of course, this approach isn't a silver bullet for everyone. If you’re an absolute beginner who needs the hand-holding of a fully integrated, graphical user interface, this CLI-centric workflow might feel intimidating at first. Large enterprise teams with stringent security and compliance requirements will likely still gravitate toward paid solutions that come with support contracts and service-level agreements. The system also relies on a free tier that, while incredibly generous, could theoretically change in the future.
A New Philosophy for Developer Productivity
But this solution isn't about finding a one-size-fits-all product. It's about a shift in mindset. It’s for the developer who values control, who wants to understand and own their stack, and who believes that world-class tools shouldn’t be locked behind a subscription wall. It’s for anyone who has ever felt the frustration of a slow, restrictive, or exploitative tool and thought, "There has to be a better way."
This is that better way. It’s fast, it’s intelligent, it’s completely usable, and it gives me the freedom to work how I want, in any environment I choose, without worrying about the next invoice.
This isn't just about saving money; it's about reclaiming ownership of the most fundamental part of my craft: the coding environment itself.
FAQ
Q: What are the free tier limits for Cerebras users?
A: Cerebras provides generous free tier limits for new users, though limits can vary by model. For the qwen3 coder model specifically:
- Context Length: 64k tokens (compared to 128k tokens in paid tiers)
- Rate Limits:
- Requests: 10 per minute, 100 per hour, 100 per day
- Tokens: 150,000 per minute, 1,000,000 per hour, 1,000,000 per day
These limits are quite generous for casual use and experimentation. For users who need higher limits, Cerebras offers paid tiers with increased quotas, including access to the full 128k token context window.
Start building your high-performance, cost-effective AI coding workflow today:
Q: How can I use the pay-as-you-go option for the qwen3 coder model instead of the free tier?
A: If you've outgrown the free tier limits or need consistent access to the full 128k context window, you can use the pay-as-you-go option through OpenRouter. Simply sign up for an OpenRouter account, navigate to the provider settings, and select "Cerebras" as your model provider. This allows you to access the qwen-3-coder-480b model with higher rate limits and the full context length while paying only for what you use.