Why would I pay a $20 per month subscription for ChatGPT or Claude when I can pay as I go just by plugging an API key into an app? I know I'm very unlikely to rack up $20 worth of tokens so I'll save money. It seems like they're just capitalising on their customers lack of technical know how and overcharging, which is just further evidence to me that the business model is not sustainable.
It's like paying a $20 per month subscription for an all you can eat buffet (not quite accurate analogy, even the subscribed customers have usage limits!) have when you know you only want to eat the $2 salad once in a blue moon.
A subscription incentivises the company to lower cost per token and move customers to cheaper models to increase margins, even if it's at the detriment of output quality.
It's like paying a $20 per month subscription for an all you can eat buffet (not quite accurate analogy, even the subscribed customers have usage limits!) have when you know you only want to eat the $2 salad once in a blue moon.
A subscription incentivises the company to lower cost per token and move customers to cheaper models to increase margins, even if it's at the detriment of output quality.