I Counted My AI Subscriptions. I Had Forgotten Half of Them.

I sat down and listed every AI subscription I pay for. There were seven. Two of them I had not opened in over two months, and one I couldn't even remember signing up for until I saw the charge.

The pattern is the free tier is never the real product. The real product is the moment you hit a limit, panic-buy the annual plan during a sale, and then never build the habit. Annual billing is designed so you forget by the time it renews.

I cancelled the two dormant ones and felt nothing. The work didn't change. That told me they were insurance, not tools, and I was paying for anxiety, not output.

What stayed: one general chatbot, one writing assistant I use daily, and one video tool for the rare project. Three covers everything the seven were supposed to. The other four were overlap I'd never audited.

Do this once a quarter. List the charges, open each tool, and if you can't remember the last time you used it, kill it. The AI market is cheap enough now that you can resubscribe in a click if you ever need it again.