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I spent $800 in a few hours when my sub maxed out because I was trying to get something done and had a long car ride to let it churn. Their api pricing is absu

I spent $800 in a few hours when my sub maxed out because I was trying to get something done and had a long car ride to let it churn. Their api pricing is absurdly expensive.

giancarlostoro 2mo ago
> Their api pricing is absurdly expensive. I assume at this point that it subsidizes subscriptions.
- timClicks 2mo ago
  Subscriptions are a mechanism to attract developers, who then advocate that their company should use the API.
- HeWhoLurksLate 2mo ago
  yes, it absolutely does. I've gotten more work done on a second chatgpt pro $100/mo subscription than I did with ~$150 of paying for usage through the app.
- qingcharles 2mo ago
  Massively subsidized. As soon as my Claude switches from subscription to overage I have to tap out quickly.
  - skohan 2mo ago
    This is a big part of the reason I went local-only. Subscription limits are horrible for having a decent workflow.
    - giancarlostoro 2mo ago
      Yeah, it sure was convenient that there was a RAM pricing crisis right when Apple was making local inference viable. All because of a promise that AI companies will buy more of it... with money they don't yet have, whereas Apple does have lots of money.
    - LinXitoW 2mo ago
      There's no universe in which just buying a second or a larger subscription isn't a billion times better and cheaper than any kind of comparable local workflow. Privacy, experimenting with ML and "unorthodox" needs are currently the only acceptable reasons to do local.
      - skohan 2mo ago
        Well I wouldn't say a billion times better. I've actually been having a surprising amount of success working with local models. And my investment has only been the equivalent of 4 months of a Max x20 subscription. Experimentation and privacy are definitely advantages, but it's also quite a lot of fun.
paxys 2mo ago
Because API pricing is for corporations and subscriptions are for consumers.
- wmf 2mo ago
  Are we supposed to just shrug at the idea of businesses paying 10x more for raw materials than consumers? How long can this go on?
  - kelvinjps10 2mo ago
    Hopefully for a long time this is like the beginnings of a vac startup, enjoy while you can before the enshitification comes
  - zipy124 2mo ago
    I mean this is kind of standard in a lot of industries? Businesses get reliability/support usually for the price increase. Just look at lots of industrial tech. Or business vs consumer 3D printers, or business vs consumer laptops etc....
- blitzar 2mo ago
  I thought corporations were meant to be smart and get b2b / volume discounts - not pay 5-10x what the man in the street is paying.
  - oblio 2mo ago
    FOMO. This won't last forever.
CompoundEyes 2mo ago
Agreed I’ve seen what they’re paying at work for the OpenAI API but I also think that includes reserved capacity and ZDR O_o. Try some add on credits next time if you can. I was curious at how far $20 would go (500 credits). Watched them go to zero over an hour and assumed it’d stop. It then ran for another 6 hours and completed the task despite the meter at 0. What a task means is very unclear but it’s definitely not pricing sol at $20/500 credits an hr in tokens.

I spent $800 in a few hours when my sub maxed out because I was trying to get something done and had a long car ride to let it churn. Their api pricing is absurdly expensive.

giancarlostoro 2mo ago

> Their api pricing is absurdly expensive. I assume at this point that it subsidizes subscriptions.

timClicks 2mo ago
Subscriptions are a mechanism to attract developers, who then advocate that their company should use the API.
HeWhoLurksLate 2mo ago
yes, it absolutely does. I've gotten more work done on a second chatgpt pro $100/mo subscription than I did with ~$150 of paying for usage through the app.
qingcharles 2mo ago
Massively subsidized. As soon as my Claude switches from subscription to overage I have to tap out quickly.
- skohan 2mo ago
  This is a big part of the reason I went local-only. Subscription limits are horrible for having a decent workflow.
  - giancarlostoro 2mo ago
    Yeah, it sure was convenient that there was a RAM pricing crisis right when Apple was making local inference viable. All because of a promise that AI companies will buy more of it... with money they don't yet have, whereas Apple does have lots of money.
  - LinXitoW 2mo ago
    There's no universe in which just buying a second or a larger subscription isn't a billion times better and cheaper than any kind of comparable local workflow. Privacy, experimenting with ML and "unorthodox" needs are currently the only acceptable reasons to do local.
    - skohan 2mo ago
      Well I wouldn't say a billion times better. I've actually been having a surprising amount of success working with local models. And my investment has only been the equivalent of 4 months of a Max x20 subscription. Experimentation and privacy are definitely advantages, but it's also quite a lot of fun.

paxys 2mo ago

Because API pricing is for corporations and subscriptions are for consumers.

wmf 2mo ago
Are we supposed to just shrug at the idea of businesses paying 10x more for raw materials than consumers? How long can this go on?
- kelvinjps10 2mo ago
  Hopefully for a long time this is like the beginnings of a vac startup, enjoy while you can before the enshitification comes
- zipy124 2mo ago
  I mean this is kind of standard in a lot of industries? Businesses get reliability/support usually for the price increase. Just look at lots of industrial tech. Or business vs consumer 3D printers, or business vs consumer laptops etc....
blitzar 2mo ago
I thought corporations were meant to be smart and get b2b / volume discounts - not pay 5-10x what the man in the street is paying.
- oblio 2mo ago
  FOMO. This won't last forever.

CompoundEyes 2mo ago

Agreed I’ve seen what they’re paying at work for the OpenAI API but I also think that includes reserved capacity and ZDR O_o. Try some add on credits next time if you can. I was curious at how far $20 would go (500 credits). Watched them go to zero over an hour and assumed it’d stop. It then ran for another 6 hours and completed the task despite the meter at 0. What a task means is very unclear but it’s definitely not pricing sol at $20/500 credits an hr in tokens.