Code vs cost, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Code” and “cost” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,434
“Code” frequency rank: #27,668
“cost” frequency rank: 30102
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Code	cost
Definition	ein System von Übereinkünften, das die eindeutige Zuordnung von Zeichen und Zeichenfolgen zweier verschiedener Zeichensysteme festlegt oder auch ein solches Zeichensystem selbst	Kosten

Letter map: Code vs cost

Shared letters muted; letters that set Code and cost apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch

Code

4 ch

cost

Corpus notes: Code and cost

Code and cost are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Code is recorded at frequency rank #2,434, classified as anoun, pronounced [koːt]. cost is at rank #27,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 30102, this pair ranks #1,754,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Code vs cost

Shared letters: co. Private to "Code": de. Private to "cost": st.

"Code" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

Code ← ccode · cdoe · codde · coed · ocde
cost ← ccost · cosst · costt · cots · csot · ocst

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Code" and "cost" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Frequency check: "Code" vs "cost" - which ranks higher?

"Code" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,434 in our German list, against #27,668 for "cost". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pair "Code" vs "cost" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "Code" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "cost" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,754,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"Code" and "cost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cost vs puzzles". Nearby pair
Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,754,385 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.