Hello, hello! 👋🏻
Don’t let your team run out of AI.
I did. 👀
We're all living on all-you-can-eat plans from ChatGPT, OpenAI, Gemini, and other providers. Their goal is to get us addicted, much like Facebook and Meta did.
I’m hearing daily now, “I ran out of AI on my standard plan that I have and fell back to using (your 2nd AI of choice ChatGPT/Gemini/Grok, etc.) because I needed to get work done.”
I didn't hear that in December. From anyone.
Let's review my usage. Its Halfway through February and I’ve:
Hit the limit on my Claude Max 20x plan each week
Hit the usage on my Gemini pro plan both weeks
And then used 343 million tokens on OpenRouter in addition to that
Now, I'm not your standard user but I'm also not a coder. Yes, I do a lot of research but this is mostly me running 3 models in parallel so that I can fact check and not ship AI slop.
Maybe you're here; maybe you're not on AI usage. But someone on your team is going to get here.
So, being the frugal New England bastard that I am, let's talk about how you save money and don't run out of AI.
Have a primary AI. For our teams Claude Opus, 4.6
I have a secondary AI. For our teams ChatGPT 5.2
Have a low-cost AI. Gemini 3 Flash or Grok 4.1 Fast
I get it. You don't think this is gonna happen to you. But both Microsoft and Google have said they can't keep up with the demand.
Your other option is to go with OpenRouter and be free to pick from 300+ AI models.
I'm doing both.
Why?
I believe that the folks that have the lowest operating costs to run their AI operations are going to be at a distinct advantage.
I have PTSD from getting beaten by Google when I ran a search engine.
We were running DEC alpha machines for a million two a piece and Larry and Sergey were going down to CompUSA and buying desktops for $1,200 and running Linux on them in their garage.
This 10X gap feels eerily similar.
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So let's say you're an AI skeptic. And your position is, I don't care if I run out of AI is just not that useful at this point.
Fair point for the 93% of the US population using AI like Google.
But this is harder to ignore:
On the left is arguably the leading model in the world, Opus 4.6. On the right is a new Chinese model MiniMax M2.5. It's 25 times cheaper on output.
Which means there's some guy sitting in his garage running 25X cheaper than you are today.
So even if you think AI is not super useful. There are very few businesses that can run at a 25X cost disadvantage and survive.
Which is why I'm busy every day crushing that cost gap. It literally keeps me up at night.
I put a guide together for OpenRouter so you can test using Grok 4.1 fast or maybe like AirBnB You'll go with the Chinese provider.
“We’re relying a lot on Alibaba’s Qwen model. It’s very good. It’s also fast and cheap,” he said. “We use OpenAI’s latest models, but we typically don’t use them that much in production because there are faster and cheaper models.”
This practical, step-by-step guide shows you how to access 400+ AI models, pay only for what you use, and build a smarter, more cost-efficient AI stack.
Inside, you’ll learn how to:
• Set up OpenRouter in under 10 minutes
• Create presets for copy, research, and strategy
• Test and compare models like a pro
• Cut your AI spending by 50–85%
Get the free guide 👇
Just don’t let your team run out of AI.
-Alec
