The great AI coding assistant bait and switch
12 days ago
- #AI coding assistants
- #pricing models
- #software engineering
- AI coding assistants like Claude Code, Replit, and Cursor are increasing prices and setting usage limits, causing frustration among users.
- Claude Code introduced weekly usage limits without prior communication, affecting heavy users who relied on continuous access.
- Cursor shifted from a request-based to a usage-based pricing model, leading to unexpected cost increases for some users.
- Replit changed its pricing for the Agent feature to 'effort-based pricing,' making some tasks more expensive.
- Dr. Christina Inge explains that these pricing changes follow classic freemium and penetration pricing models, common in tech industries.
- Engineering leaders are advised to consider stable, established providers like Microsoft, Google, or AWS to avoid aggressive price hikes.
- For teams unhappy with price increases, switching to a more stable provider sooner rather than later is recommended to avoid vendor lock-in.