How many and what type of subscriptions do you have?
Maybe this post will help makers understand how much people are willing to spend, what products are useful to them, and what the main motive for buying is.
I personally try to keep track of how much and what I spend. Before I invest in something, I consider:
what will be the return on it (i.e. whether I will earn something by buying/investing in a product),
whether it will be profitable for me in the long term,
whether it will save me time.
I don't have many subscriptions, to be honest, only:
Twitter Premium – annual (~€80)
CapCut Pro – annual (~€120)
(and that's all) 😅 ... the other subscriptions are paid for by the company... like Visual Eletric, MixPanel, ChatGPT etc.
How are your subscription plans?
E.g. what products you subscribed to; (budgeting – optional); what do you consider when purchasing (your why).
Replies
Honestly, there’s only one single reason why I keep getting subscriptions:
To be better. To handle the things I need to do more effectively.
I have annual subscriptions to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Pro (Gemini), X/Grok, Claude, Canva and Typefully. From time to time, I subscribe to tools I specifically need: Cursor, Lovable, Bolt. I probably have another 10 or so subscriptions I’m forgetting.
How do I decide how much to spend?
Very simple. I’ve set a monthly percentage of my income that goes toward tools. It’s like a productivity tax I pay. And I just know that each month, I can allocate that amount toward tools.
Is it worth it?
Absolutely. Clients and partners see that I’m able to handle an incredibly wide range of tasks at a high level. That increases my value.
Also, a lot of things are easier when you can just do them. We start a new project: I immediately show them what I imagine the landing page to look like. I don’t need to rely on their developers/designers/frontend engineers to share my vision. We need content on all sorts of topics: I don’t have to wait on someone else to get it done.
Gemini also helps me in business relationships. In different cultures, negotiations and communication play out differently. I feed it our conversations and it tells me how to negotiate, how to act, and points out red flags in the people I’m dealing with.
When I research a project, I hand it over to Gemini DeepResearch and it gives me a 25-page report with 150+ links. I end up knowing more about the project than people who’ve been in the industry for over 10 years.
So yes, I probably use 20+ subscriptions regularly each month. But I wouldn’t cut a single one because they help in every aspect of my business. I’m more valuable to myself, I make better decisions, and the people I work with also get value that would be impossible to deliver without these tools.
@byalexai Wow, but how do you handle them? Isn't it too much (distraction)? :D
I usually prefer monthly subscriptions over annual plans. Here are the ones I’m using:
YouTube Premium Family — about $5
GPT Pro — about $5
LinkedIn Premium — $29.99
X Verify — $8
Canva Pro — $15
Google Drive — $9.99
Brevo — $18
Plus several others like Snap (game), Netflix, Hulu, and mor
@hwiidg But you overpay it, don't you? When I am confident enough that I will be using the product long-term (e.g. more than 5 or 6 months), I will pay for the whole year.
@busmark_w_nika I actually think your approach makes a lot of sense.
It's just that I'm currently running a startup, paying off a mortgage, and dealing with bank loans. So I have to be really careful about my monthly cash flow.
@hwiidg Understandably. Tho, for sure, try to count how you could potentially overpay for paying monthly separately.
Released
@hwiidg in what country is YouTube Premium Family $5?
@jschumacher Haha I just shared with my friends
Released
@hwiidg @jschumacher I think that in India, Turkey and Argentina are the lowest prices.
Yes, it's very cheap in India, with the student plan, it's only a dollar a month
Triforce Todos
It makes you pause and think about where your money goes every month 😅
I try to keep it lean, too. Right now, I am paying for:
ChatGPT (mainly for content help + idea validation)
Notion AI (for notes, writing, and staying semi-organized)
Canva Pro (worth it just for quick social graphics)
Netflix... because, well, mental health matters 😄
When I consider a subscription, my first question is always: Will this either save me time or help me make more money? If the answer is yes, I usually give it a shot (with a reminder to review it later so I do not forget and let it charge me forever 😬).
@abod_rehman To be honest, I wouldn't leave money for Netflix because I cannot see the return value. (for me it is too passive). 😀 My only luck is that people joined/invited me in the family plans for useful things like DuoLingo)... but considering a YouTube subscription because those skipped ads would help me to save a lot of waiting time.
Gridapps Testimonials
I’m a developer, so I try to keep my subscriptions focused — only tools that help me ship faster or stay mentally organized.
My current paid stack:
ChatGPT (daily dev + writing help)
Cursor AI (love the VS Code-like AI experience)
ClickUp (lightweight project tracking for solo/small teams)
Framer (super quick for landing pages)
Notion AI (for async docs with my remote team)
Before subscribing, I always ask:
Will this save me time or cognitive load?
Will I use it consistently in my dev or product workflow?
Will it help me build or ship faster?
I skip anything that feels like a “nice-to-have” but ends up collecting dust after a week.
Really love threads like this — they give a real-world view of what people actually pay for, not just try once and forget.
@gowthamshankar Hopefully, you reflected all your subscriptions and declutter those unuseful ones :D TY for sharing :)
Haha I totally relate! 😅
I also try to be mindful of where my money goes - especially with tools and subscriptions. I'm not a heavy pro user either, so I stick to the essentials.
Right now, I’m using:
Canva Pro – mainly for quick creative stuff
Adobe Photoshop – for more detailed design work
That’s pretty much it on my personal side. Like you, most of the other tools I use are covered by the company.
For me, the decision always comes down to:
Will this save me time?
Will it improve my output or workflow?
Is it worth the price in the long run?
Curious to see what tools others consider must-haves too :D
@sania_khan10 Used to pay for Photoshop, but Photopea is for free and quite solid :)
@busmark_w_nika Yeah I think you are right. I have heard about Photopea but never used it. But thanks for mentioning I will try to use it .
@sania_khan10 It has many opportunities, almost like Photoshop :)
@busmark_w_nika Ahhh I see. I will explore it. What are you doing lately? I would love to know more :)
This is a great question. So many free tiers that you build up a workflow from a template in n8n that has perplexity and you just get the free license. But, if you build something substantial then you're into a paid account. TL;DR too many options and licenses.
I use the following tools consistently:
OpenAI (API and Chat)
Claude
Gemini
n8n
Pinecone
Google Search API
Google Workplace
Descript
Random signups that I probably won't keep
Airtable
Perplexity
Zapier
Lovable (I do like this one)
Bedrock
@tinyorgtech But do you pay for all of them? :D
@busmark_w_nika no. In fact I'm going through them next week to thin out the herd. It gets confusing what I have. I enjoy the exploration but gotta keep a solid list so I don't go broke.
@tinyorgtech Yeah, rather keep your savings than spending them on tools you will not use at all :D
A few but not a complete list and
@OpenAI
@Figma
@Gamma (super useful)
@Fitbod Weight Lifting Workout (a truly great product)
@usebubbles , can't live without, I like the permissions and the way the notes are presented vs other ai notetakers, big boost to productivity
@Notion
Gamma isn't perfect, but it gets me over overthinking slides and it is done in five minutes. I am really looking forward to what the future might be presenting data etc.
who is going to make the ai tableau?
@usebubbles @howell4change What for is usebubbles?
Nowadays, so many useful tools are creating which needs subscription so it's hard to decide which subscription plans is fit to my budget because of unstable income. Probably many people suffer from same issues with me. As an intern at a LegalTech company, I think that the issue is deciding the parameter, for instance lawyers must use the parameter as time and money comparison. If they see, they can earn more than the subscription fee in the saved time thanks to LegalAI, the buying is definitely beneficial for them. Need to think about the parameters for deciding it's worth or not.
@efebiyikoglu Do you have any subscriptions?
@busmark_w_nika Of course, but not too much
-Netflix
-ChatGPT
-Twitter premium for Grok
-Spotify
@efebiyikoglu All of these are still a huge amount of money. 😅
X premium+ = Without it comment will get lost (still no one sees thought xD). Also it gives access to Supergrok too, which I replaced with ChatGPT earlier this year.
Typefully = Scheduling for X (I am contemplating on vibecoding an alternative, but also may force myself to start posting in Linkedin to justify paying for them!)
Audible plus = Plus catalogue books + one free book per month. Eating + gym time partner.
Youtube premium = Mostly for music. Replaced videos with Audible last year.
Hotstar = Streaming service like Netflix in India. Mostly for my mother, I rarely get time to watch.
Earlier subscribed to Rob Lennon's membership for his weekly calls (He is a prompting expert).
But it was too overwhelming so I abandoned it and asking Grok without any fancy prompt. Goal is to iterate faster rather than getting perfect output.
Thanks for this post. Good to reflect on this.
@admiralrohan I think that Twitter subscription is not giving you a guarantee of the broader reach as it used to be. But for Grok it is okay.
@busmark_w_nika No reach yet. But without premium I have zero chance. Comments will get burried down and no notifications to others even if I comment.
@admiralrohan True. Elon fu*ked that platform a little bit :D
@busmark_w_nika Money money money!
Same here, only keep subscriptions that either save me time or actually pay for themselves. I’m currently on:
* ChatGPT (€300/year): for instant code ideas, troubleshooting and quick docs lookup
* Helm (€30/year): makes App Store Connect workflows a breeze (I’d gladly pay more)
* RocketSim (€60/year): spins up simulated devices in seconds so I can test UIs and animations without the wait
* GitKraken (€60/year): a git repo manager with a clean, intuitive UI
* Canva (€150/year): to create my apps assets
Each one pays for itself by speeding up my work or helping me avoid mistakes ;)
@lienmt You made a wise choice when you invested yearly :) Money savings can be used for any other tool you will decide to add into your portfolio :)
Varies by month or a three month period for new AI products.
I've gotten consistent use from Claude and ChatGPT but I'd rather pay for Claude only.
As for graphic and video subs, I've cut them down drastically to one off payment products and kicked Canva due to template overbloat.
I would ramp this up if I were to work on a project solo and AI could help me cut those inefficiencies of onboarding/offboarding because finding a partner to work with is always hit and miss.
@suebozkus Why would you choose Claude over GPT?
@busmark_w_nika Because it has more use cases for my work and tends to be more accurate.
Seems the biggest business model is selling shovels in the gold rush. All the tools you need to make money are on subscription haha.
Among others, I have Instantly, Google Workspace, some paid Skool communities.. probably around $100/mo. Stresses me out just thinking about it! Gotta spend money to make money, I suppose.
@wesley_liaw If you spend money to make money, that is the better scenario. It would be worse if you spend money, making nothing (and even didn't use those tools) :D
Haha I love how this thread turned into a group therapy session for subscription guilt 😅
As for me, I try to strike a balance between essential, occasional, and aspirational tools.
Essentials I use constantly:
ChatGPT Pro (aka my second brain)
Canva Pro (I run social content, so this one pays for itself)
CapCut Pro (video edits made breezy)
YouTube Premium (no ads -no rage)
@suvam_deo The group of anonymous addicted people to subscriptions, lol :D
ChatGPT, CapCut – the same
YouTube – still considering
Canva – I do not use so much
TY for sharing!
@busmark_w_nika I think a lot of learning and resources are avaiable at youtube. So, getting a premuim subscription is a great way to enhance that expreince and ofcourse saviour from ads. You get a free YT music subscription as well.
@suvam_deo Good to know :)
For work/productivity/learning:
Copilot, will be switching to Claude soon.
Youtube: I love watching podcasts on Starter Story or Lenny's podcast and insane amount of ads is just frustrating.
Buffer : I'm bad at social media checking everyday so I plan in 1 go and be done for a week at-least.
For entertainment:
I've top 5 OTT platform subscriptions shared with family as well.
Is it worth it?
Yes, absolutely. It does save a lot of time. on youtube I just mark videos/channels as not interested If i've even a little bit intent to watch as ofcourse they're interesting but they don't align with my goals.
@gsrathoreniks What other benefits (besides skipped ads) do you have from that YouTube? I am considering that one.
@busmark_w_nika Even ads is itself a big deal to get the Premium but as an Add-on, I do like to explore YT music, For some reason I like YT Music's recommendation better then Spotify so yeah, It's a no brainer for me.
@gsrathoreniks TBH, I use only YouTube for everything: Videos, Music, Podcasts :)
@gsrathoreniks @busmark_w_nika
I’ve been on YT premium since it was called Google Play, besides no ads, wich is the best thing about it, locked screen usage wich is a huge battery saver, sometimes you just need the audio when it’s strategy, abstract things, discussions.
And last, the music choice where they includes public catches from lives.
Extra with locked screen usage: you can have a comedy skit on headphones while walking, commuting, sometimes I find myself bursting in laughs in weird places
That's a very interesting question. I'll go to Notion and look at my subscription list. By the way, it's very convenient to track and organize your subscriptions. So, let's get started.
- Lovable.dev (for my work)
- Stable (business address for my company)
- Google One (lots of photos that need to be stored on Google Drive)
- Make.com (automation)
- Of course, my favorite ChatGPT (for everything, lol)
- YouTube Premium (ads are annoying)
- Open Phone (phone number for the company)
- Adobe Creative Cloud (editing)
- Behance (I thought it would bring me clients - nope)
- Answer The Public (for the blog)
- Supabase (database for my apps)
- Tella (I use it for screen recording and presentations)
- Tudum 😂 Netflix (to watch in the evening)
Well, those are all my active subscriptions. There are many more on hold, but no one is interested in those. I also plan to subscribe to Claude, Perplexity, Bolt.new, and Cloudflare Stream.