9. Cost & Subscription Strategy
Monthly Cost Comparison
| Tool | Free Tier | Pro Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Pay-per-use | ~$20-50/month typical | Primary dev tool |
| Perplexity | 5 Pro searches/day | $20/month | Research-heavy work |
| Gemini | Good free tier | $19.99/month | Visual work |
| NotebookLM | Free | Free | Documentation |
| Kimi | Generous free | Free | Presentations |
| v0.dev | Limited | $20/month | UI prototyping |
| Cursor | Free tier | $20/month | IDE integration |
Recommended Subscriptions by Profile
Minimal Stack ($40-70/month):
- Claude Code (pay-per-use) - $20-50
- Perplexity Pro - $20
- Everything else: Free tiers
Balanced Stack ($80-110/month):
- Claude Code - $30-50
- Perplexity Pro - $20
- Gemini Advanced - $20
- Cursor Pro - $20
- Free: NotebookLM, Kimi
Power Stack ($120-150/month):
- Claude Code (heavy usage) - $50-80
- Perplexity Pro - $20
- Gemini Advanced - $20
- Cursor Pro - $20
- v0 Pro - $20
- Free: NotebookLM, Kimi
Cost Optimization Tips
- Use Claude Code's Haiku model for simple tasks (
/model haiku) - Batch research sessions in Perplexity to maximize Deep Research
- Use free tiers for Gemini Flash, NotebookLM, Kimi
- Check context usage regularly (
/status) to avoid waste - Use Opus sparingly - only for architectural decisions