DeepSeek hiked prices 12x (that's +1100%) after Aug 16. This past week it cost me over ¥1,000, and ds is still mostly my fallback. I go through a lot of tokens, but across every model I'm pushing 1B+ a week.
I'm mostly coding, though this applies elsewhere. Don't run everything through one model. Web lookups and local search go to free or cheap ones. I only pull the top tier for planning, big decisions, and the parts that actually hurt.
So at minimum two tiers: a top sub like ChatGPT or Grok, plus a cheap/free model. Hy3 handles the chores.
What I run now: ChatGPT + Grok dual sub for the heavy lifting; commandcode's $1 plan to flip between top and cheap on demand; a pool of 50 IPs cycling opencode's hy3-free (each IP gets free daily quota, no login); and workbuddy's daily check-in for points I burn on cheap hy3 calls.
It's a stupid amount of plumbing for one week of bills. The ¥1,000 stung enough that I sat down and built it.
