BigCode Starcoder2 15B vs Databricks Dolly V2 12B: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Verified 2026 FinOps benchmark comparing BigCode Starcoder2 15B (bigcode/starcoder2-15b) vs Databricks Dolly V2 12B (databricks/dolly-v2-12b). Simulate cache read multipliers, context cliffs, MAU bills, and P90 latency.
BigCode Starcoder2 15B (bigcode/starcoder2-15b) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for BigCode Starcoder2 15B: Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 90% (down to 0.005/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
Databricks Dolly V2 12B (databricks/dolly-v2-12b) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for Databricks Dolly V2 12B: Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 90% (down to 0.01/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
In Etuki October 2026 FinOps telemetry comparing BigCode Starcoder2 15B (API ID: bigcode/starcoder2-15b) vs Databricks Dolly V2 12B (API ID: databricks/dolly-v2-12b), BigCode Starcoder2 15B offers lower standard input pricing at $0.05/1M tokens ($0.15/1M output), while BigCode Starcoder2 15B leads in cached prefix economics at $0.005/1M tokens (90% discount). BigCode Starcoder2 15B achieves a 0ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (195ms vs 195ms).
Gateway-synced rate ($0.05/$0.15 per 1M, flat 64K window). Verify upstream provider cache TTL and regional routing before high-volume batch runs.
Gateway-synced rate ($0.1/$0.2 per 1M, flat 16K window). Verify upstream provider cache TTL and regional routing before high-volume batch runs.
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | BigCode Starcoder2 15B | Databricks Dolly V2 12B | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | bigcode/starcoder2-15b | databricks/dolly-v2-12b | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $0.05 / $0.15 | $0.1 / $0.2 | BigCode Starcoder2 15B |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0.005/1M (90% Off) | $0.01/1M (90% Off) | BigCode Starcoder2 15B |
| Context Window / Max Output | 64K In / 64K Out | 16K In / 64K Out | BigCode Starcoder2 15B |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 195ms | 195ms | BigCode Starcoder2 15B (-0ms) |
BigCode Starcoder2 15B (bigcode/starcoder2-15b): OpenRouter gateway-synced model at $0.05/1M input, $0.15/1M output, $0.005/1M cached input (64K context window).
Databricks Dolly V2 12B (databricks/dolly-v2-12b): OpenRouter gateway-synced model at $0.1/1M input, $0.2/1M output, $0.01/1M cached input (16K context window).
Real-Time Stack Cost & Hidden-Fee Simulator (MAU / Token / Egress / GMV)
Calibrated with Reddit r/FinOps & r/devops telemetry: Includes Context Caching, Bandwidth Egress, and MoR Tax
⚡Switch from BigCode Starcoder2 15B to Databricks Dolly V2 12B
Databricks Dolly V2 12B (databricks/dolly-v2-12b): OpenRouter gateway-synced model at $0.1/1M input, $0.2/1M output, $0.01/1M cached input (16K context window). Verified P90 latency of 195ms.