Thread

1. jrflo · 1790261287 · focus · HN ↗

   Does anyone actually pay API costs out of their own pocket? It's about 10x cheaper to just get a codex or chat gpt subscription, it's so heavily subsidized compared to the API that I'm sure it would be cheaper to use frontier models on a subscription plan rather than paying API prices for deepseek flash.

   1. lowercased · 1790261467 · focus · HN ↗

      I do. For local dev work, I'm mostly using jetbrains' Junie, I can swap between a collection of models from google, openai, anthrophic.

      I've had more than a few people tell me "oh, it's so much cheaper to use a $20 claude account" or "i've never hit a limit ever using my openai". Inevitably.. I end up reading/hearing "oh, I need to give it another couple hours to start using it again"... I've never hit that with my approach, even if it's costing me a bit more. Being able to work when I want when I have time has some value.

      I also have openai and anthropic direct API billing set up for hosted and client projects that need to call out to an LLM service.

      1. jrflo · 1790261684 · focus · HN ↗

         Why not use a codex or claude subscription? If you use the entire usage allotment on the $200 plan it's about $2,000 in equivalent API costs. Switching providers may be valuable but it's quite literally an order of magnitude cheaper.

         1. lowercased · 1790274185 · focus · HN ↗

            That's... $200. That's a lot for me. And I'm tied in to one set of models. Using something else (like Junie) I can swap and try models from multiple vendors.

            1. jrflo · 1790280911 · focus · HN ↗

               I only used that number because that's what I use. If you get the $20 codex plan that's equivalent to $100 in API costs, still a much better deal.

               1. lowercased · 1790361930 · focus · HN ↗

                  Is it equivalent if I'm time bound and have to stop working for X hours?

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