Why I just canceled ChatGPT Plus and two other AI subscriptions

A few months ago, I reviewed my AI subscriptions and simply asked, “Am I really using this?” The answer is, in three out of four cases, not really. I was paying for Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT Plus and Perplexity Pro. Each one served a different purpose on paper, but in reality I used them similarly and paid three times as much for the same convenience. I canceled all three, switched to free alternatives, and saved about $50 a month in the process

To help you understand my choices and their implications, let me guide you through my honest take on what I cut, what I replaced, and my compromises.

I subscribed Adobe Firefly because of one particular selling point: it’s trained on licensed content, which theoretically makes it safer to use for commercial purposes. For anyone producing content professionally, this is important, or at least it sounds like it should be.

The reality is that I was creating AI images occasionally, not constantly. While the Firefly’s output was clean, it rarely blew me away. I was often paying for a security guarantee I didn’t need and image quality that free tools largely lacked.

i passed Ideograms for header images, social graphics and random illustrations for my travel site. In my case, I use random images for 48-hour city guides and social graphics for the site’s Instagram account.

The free tier gives you plenty of generations, and the quality of the photorealistic and stylized hints is impressive. I never wanted to go back to Firefly.

What I miss about Firely: Commercial license, a convenience if I’m honest. If you’re doing things where IP ownership is a real concern, Firefly’s training data argument still holds. For most casual users, the cost is hard to justify.

Judgment: I ditched Firefly because I didn’t need its special features and found the free alternatives sufficient for my needs. No regrets here.

It’s harder to talk about because I didn’t just switch to free ChatGPT; I already had Claude Pro which is the same as ChatGPT Plus. So I didn’t save $20; I directed him. But the cancellation was still worth it.

i kept ChatGPT Plus mostly out of habit. Most of my use was for quick queries that the free ChatGPT can handle. The real problem wasn’t his ability, but that I was using it automatically.

As a freelance tech writer, the audit was about determining which tools really add professional value.

If you’re a casual ChatGPT user, the free tier covers the vast majority of everyday tasks. Summarizing, framing, answering questions, helping to think through problems – it’s all there. GPT-4o entry the free tier has a rate limit, but you probably won’t notice unless you hit those limits regularly.

What I miss about ChatGPT Plus: Unlimited access to GPT-4o. On heavy usage days, the rate limits on the free tier are real and sometimes annoying. If you’re a power user who uses ChatGPT throughout the day, the Plus may still be worth it.

Judgment: I canceled ChatGPT Plus because it overlapped with Claude Pro and the free version met my daily needs. This made the decision easy.

This may be the simplest of the three cancellations. I subscribed Perplexity Pro For AI-powered search and additional features, but the simple truth is that I haven’t used them.

I mainly used Confusion for quick research, where I wanted to synthesize answers with verifiable links. The free tier did too; I rarely pushed its limits, and the model differences weren’t significant for my needs.

If you do heavy, continuous research and need access to an extended model, the Pro upgrade makes more sense. The free version for regular use is one of the best free tools in the AI ​​space, full stop.

What I miss about Perplexity Pro: Nothing, really. This is the cleanest cancellation of the three.

Judgment: I canceled Perplexity Pro because the free tier provides everything I need. No feature was missed and there was no shortage.

Having said all that, I still pay for an AI subscription: Claude Pro.

To be clear, this is not a criticism of the above tools – they all work well. However, of all my subscriptions, Claude Pro was the only one that did routine, specific tasks that I couldn’t get for free elsewhere. That’s what I found, as my colleague Andrew Grush recently discovered Switch from ChatGPT to Claude Pro it was good for me.

I use Claude Pro for journalism, B2B client work, coding for my site, and writing a novel that requires me to manage complexity over long sessions. For journalism, client work, and a novel in progress, Claude Pro was invaluable in ways that the other services above were not.

The right subscription is different for everyone. Your audit may land in a completely different place. It’s not about which tool wins, it’s about conducting the audit first.

The real lesson was not about AI tools, but the gap between my perception and reality.

I subscribed to Firefly for its commercial license, kept ChatGPT Plus out of habit, and tried Perplexity Pro for its attractive features. None of these are great reasons to spend money.

If you haven’t looked at your AI subscription lately, open your credit card statement and ask yourself the same question: Am I really using it? Not “can I use this” or “do I like having this” – do I use it enough to justify the cost?

The answer may surprise you.