Cheap AI Plans: Price & Token Advisor

Recommend under-50-RMB/month AI plan combos and client setups for budget-conscious users

Problem

On V2EX a non-programmer says paying over 100 RMB a month for AI is unacceptable, stuck between free quota being too small and not wanting to pay more. They want a plan under 50 RMB that feels like token freedom, plus a client that can customize AI. Another thread notes when token quota runs out, you just hand-edit AI code.

Solution

A plan comparison and usage advisor: given monthly budget, model preference, and use case (Q&A, coding, daily), list viable low-cost API or plan combos, estimate monthly tokens, and give client config templates. Users can import their usage logs and get cheaper switching suggestions.

Users

Budget-sensitive indie developers, occasional coding non-programmers, students, and freelancers

MVP

Maintain a price table of low-cost APIs and plans; simple recommendations by budget and use case; config templates for common clients; token usage estimates; track price and free-tier changes

Revenue

Affiliate commissions on recommended links, paid comparison reports or price alerts; free basic comparison, paid advanced usage diagnosis

Why now

LLM pricing and plans change frequently, making DIY comparison costly; an indie dev can maintain a trusted price-intelligence site with manual curation and community feedback