How Much I Spent on AI
A breakdown of my AI spending from August 2023 to May 2026, spanning nearly three years. Conclusion: most of the time I used free options, and actual out-of-pocket expenses were C$120.00 + U$13.54 + £11.00 + ¥99.00.
How Much I Spent on AI
A breakdown of my AI spending from August 2023 to May 2026, spanning nearly three years. Conclusion: most of the time I used free options, and actual out-of-pocket expenses were C$120.00 + U$13.54 + £11.00 + ¥99.00.
Token consumption stats are available at tokscale.ai/u/thedavidweng.
Overview
| Dimension | Data |
|---|---|
| Time Span | 2023-08 to 2026-05 (34 calendar months) |
| Actual Out-of-Pocket | C$120.00 + U$1.34 + U$6.40 + U$5.80 + £11.00 + ¥99.00 |
| Relay Station Token Reference Value | ~U$868.38 (friend’s channel, no real money spent) |
| Free Tier Months | Over 65% |
| Paid Items | ChatGPT Plus (early, C$120), Coze Space (¥99.00), Command Code (U$1.34), OpenRouter top-up (U$12.20), ChatGPT Business promo (£11.00) |
| Free Items | ChatGPT Plus (student discount/trial), Perplexity Pro, Google One AI Premium, GitHub Copilot Student, Zed Student, Cursor Student, OpenRouter free models, Nous Portal limited-time free, MiMo Orbit, Step / Qwen / Kimi / Trinity / DeepSeek limited-time, Kiro trial, friend’s relay station |
Timeline
2023-08 to 2024-01 · ChatGPT Plus · C$20.00/month
Six consecutive months of subscription.
Subtotal: 6 × C$20.00 = C$120.00
At this stage, there were no stable free alternatives, and GPT-4 was significantly ahead in code and logical reasoning.
2025-04 to 2025-05 · ChatGPT Plus · C$0.00
ChatGPT trial.
2025-04-18 · Google One AI Premium · U$0.00
Student trial until 2026-07-18.
2025-05-31 to 2025-06-30 · ChatGPT Plus · U$0.00
Switched to a different ChatGPT account to continue the trial.
2025-08 · Perplexity Pro · U$0.00
Bundled with XFINITY 1YEAR 8x plan, got Perplexity Pro for one year. Redeem a free year of Perplexity Pro through Xfinity Rewards.
AI-powered Q&A with search enhancement, daily information lookup and lightweight research.
2025-12-07 · GitHub Student Verification · U$0.00
Verified .edu email to activate GitHub Copilot Student for one year.
2026-03 · ChatGPT Plus · C$0.00
ChatGPT power user got one month free trial again.
2026-03-15 · Zed · U$0.00
Obtained Zed Student for one year via student status.
2026-03-15 · Relay Station Token Usage Begins · Reference Value U$868.38
A good friend’s @m1ssuo relay station.
As of 2026-05-03: 11,634 calls, 115 million input tokens, 5.36 million output tokens. If paid at market rates, approximately U$868.38.
Models Used:
- GPT-5.5: 3,982 calls, U$383.94
- GPT-5.4: 4,376 calls, U$283.64
- GPT-5.4 Pro: 1,825 calls, U$188.52
- GPT-5.4 Mini: 867 calls, U$7.92
- Kimi K2.5 Turbo: 133 calls, U$0.00
2026-04-09 · ChatGPT Plus · C$0.00
Switched accounts again, ChatGPT power user got one month free trial.
2026-04-09 · Coze Space · ¥99.00
Personal flagship version on recurring monthly subscription. Includes cloud PC, cloud phone, email, cloud storage.
What a ripoff.
- The model is Doubao’s large model, which is too poor in quality to be useful for actual work
- Cloud phone can’t install apps freely, very limited flexibility
- Cloud PC is severely restricted under domestic network conditions; can’t download large files from GitHub without ghproxy
- Poor GitHub integration
2026-04-14 · Hermes Agent
Accessed Mimo V2 Pro through Nous Portal, used until April 21. Nous Research partnered with Xiaomi for MiMo V2 Pro, free for two weeks. Nous Research on X
2026-04-22 · Step 3.5 Flash
Nous Portal free for ten days, replacing Mimo V2 Pro. Nous Research on X.
2026-04-22 · Kimi K2.6
Kimi briefly free for 24 hours. Nous Research on X.
2026-04-25 · Cursor · U$0.00
Used Cursor Pro via Cursor Students.
There was a little incident during this period. Flying Solo on Cursor 4.6-opus-high-thinking: Saving $600
2026-04-27 · Xiaomi MiMo Orbit Program · Standard Monthly Plan · U$0.00
Application approved, received Standard monthly plan. Xiaomi MiMo on X
2026-05-04 · Command Code · U$1.34
Individual Go plan U$1.00 + processing fee U$0.34, all used for DeepSeek V4 Pro calls. Ahmad Awais on X
2026-05-04 · Trinity-Large-Thinking · Free for 1 Week
New model with limited-time free access. Nous Research on X
2026-05-05 · OpenRouter Free Models U$12.20
I’ve been using OpenRouter’s free models consistently. They often have stealth model testing before new model launches—while data is used for training, you get free usage in return. I missed MiMo’s stealth period, so I used openrouter/owl-alpha quite a bit, followed by inclusionai/ring-2.6-1t:free (Ring-2.6-1T free) and DeepSeek V4 Flash.
2026-05-09 · Nous Portal Upgraded to U$20 Plan · U$0.00
Hermes Agent ranked #1 globally for OpenRouter token usage in a special event. Nous Portal gave away 200 U$20 subscriptions. Nous Research on X
2026-05-09 to 05-31 · Kiro · U$0.00
Kiro Pro first month free.
2026-05-10 · ChatGPT Business Promo · £11.00
ChatGPT Business UK region promotional price. Two Business team seats originally £36.00, promotional discount £25.00, actual payment £11.00.
2026-05-11 · Hermes Agent / OpenCode · U$0.00
Nous Portal Qwen 3.6 Plus Nous Research on X
OpenCode DeepSeek V4 Flash Free OpenCode on X
2026-05-12 · Step 3.5 Flash · Free for 15 Days
Step 3.5 Flash available free on Nous Portal again for 15 days. Nous Research on X.
2026-05-14 · Nous Portal · DeepSeek V4 Flash Free · U$0.00
Nous Portal also made DeepSeek V4 Flash Free available for free Nous Research on X.
Expense Summary
| Period | Service | Currency | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-08 to 2024-01 | ChatGPT Plus × 6 | CAD | C$120.00 |
| 2025-04 to 2025-05 | ChatGPT Plus (student free) | USD | U$0.00 |
| 2025-05-31 to 2025-06-30 | ChatGPT Plus (student free) | USD | U$0.00 |
| 2025-08 | Perplexity Pro (carrier bundled) | USD | U$0.00 |
| 2025-12-07 | GitHub Copilot Student | - | U$0.00 |
| 2026-03 | Zed Student (student status) | - | U$0.00 |
| 2026-03 | ChatGPT Plus trial | CAD | C$0.00 |
| 2026-04-09 | ChatGPT Plus trial | CAD | C$0.00 |
| 2026-04-09 | Coze Space · Recurring monthly | RMB | ¥99.00 |
| 2026-04 onwards | OpenRouter free models + top-up | USD | U$12.20 |
| 2026-04-14 onwards | Nous Portal / MiMo / Step / Kimi / Trinity limited-time free | - | U$0.00 |
| 2026-04-25 | Cursor student version | USD | U$0.00 |
| 2026-05-04 | Command Code (DeepSeek V4 Pro) | USD | U$1.34 |
| 2026-05-09 to 05-31 | Kiro Pro (Applied balance offset) | USD | U$0.00 |
| 2026-05-10 | ChatGPT Business promo (2 seats, 48 months) | GBP | £11.00 |
| 2026-05-11 | Hermes Agent / OpenCode new free models | USD | U$0.00 |
| 2026-05-12 | Nous Portal reopens Step 3.5 Flash | USD | U$0.00 |
| 2026-05-14 | Nous Portal adds DeepSeek V4 Flash Free | USD | U$0.00 |
| Actual Out-of-Pocket Total | C$120.00 + U$1.34 + U$6.40 + U$5.80 + £11.00 + ¥99.00 | ||
| 2026-03-15 onwards | Relay station tokens (friend’s channel) | USD | Reference U$868.38 |
Conclusion
In 2023, using a GPT-4-level model cost $20 per month.
By 2026, open models’ capabilities are approaching the top-tier models from the big three and are available for free, and domestic tech giants are also distributing tokens through limited-time events and developer programs. During this intense competition, being a regular consumer is truly the best time.
Since I started using AI to write code in March this year, my actual spending has only been U$20.81 (excluding Coze Space), which is absolutely negligible compared to the value it has created for me.
Statistics: tokscale.ai/u/thedavidweng Last updated: 2026-05-15