The premium price is only worth fo the hardest problems.

For CRUD shoveling, models like DS4.1 are enough.

And the intelligence gap between cheap and premium is closing, as can be seen from the title of this post.

In the Artificial Analysis index, MiMo 2.6 Pro is smarter than GPT-Sol 6.1 Low at the same cost, and only slightly dumber than Medium. MiMo 2.6 Flash is marginally cheaper and smarter than GPT-Luna 6 Max. (There is no GPT 6+ Terra, which would otherwise be in that range.) These are not negligible or trivial results.

If both DS4.1 and Opus can complete the tasks you throw at it at good enough quality the differences are negligible.

Who cares if your car can go 200mph if all you need is 60. If my requirement is 60mph, I want a faster 0-60, not a higher top speed.