The real cost of AI subscriptions is not the price

We argue about whether a model is ten or twenty dollars a month, then stack eight of them and call it nothing. The money is trivial. The real cost is elsewhere.

Every extra tool is a place your attention fractures. Checking five dashboards a day is a tax no invoice shows. And the more you lean on a model's phrasing, the more your own voice erodes without you noticing.

I started counting 'switch cost' instead of price. A tool I open daily earns its place; a tool I open to 'see if it is better' is a leak.

Cheap subscriptions are the most expensive ones because they are easy to keep. Canceling is a skill, not a chore.