AI Companies are raising crazy amounts of money so why not use their free tiers?(jamesoclaire.com)
jamesoclaire.com
AI Companies are raising crazy amounts of money so why not use their free tiers?
https://jamesoclaire.com/2025/11/10/ai-companies-are-raising-crazy-amounts-of-money-so-why-not-use-their-free-tiers/
2 comments
Not really. Paid access gets you more tokens per month on better models. Some models are actually better at coding complex tasks than others. And without tokens, you can't submit anything at all.
This is why folks making software products that sell or are expected to sell are willing to pay the monthly fee. It's peanuts versus the value of the code we're getting.
The modern tools have a pay-to-play interface and you can see your actual cost in dollars and cents for each prompt. If you don't have enough budget in your plan (or pay extra) you simply can't submit such a prompt.
Disclosure: I spent over $100 on Cursor this month and will likely go to the $200 plan next month.
This is why folks making software products that sell or are expected to sell are willing to pay the monthly fee. It's peanuts versus the value of the code we're getting.
The modern tools have a pay-to-play interface and you can see your actual cost in dollars and cents for each prompt. If you don't have enough budget in your plan (or pay extra) you simply can't submit such a prompt.
Disclosure: I spent over $100 on Cursor this month and will likely go to the $200 plan next month.
I think most people on the $200 tiers could get 90% of what they want from a cheaper tier
When I’ve talked to friends about this, they’re ‘sure’ they’re maxing out or using it to it’s fullest, but I have a sneaking suspicion that if they were to try a cheaper / free tier setup they would probably be mostly fine.
So, if you have the money and enjoy it, continue on, but if you’ve been looking for a way to save $200-$180 a month, try the free tiers, they’re really just as good.