I stopped using ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for every little task, and my local LLM picked up the slack

Unlike subscriptions like Netflix, Spotify, or Apple Music, where paying a monthly fee generally means you can use the service as much as you want, AI subscriptions don't quite work that way. You could be paying $20, or even $100, a month and still find yourself staring at a polite little message telling you that you've hit your usage limit and should come back later. The irony is that AI is probably one of the most expensive subscriptions you pay for, yet it's also one of the few that can lock you out despite paying for it! This is one of the reasons (among others) I've stopped turning to ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for every little task.