Is AI Overhyped for IT? My ₹50,000 Experiment with Free vs Premium

Is AI Overhyped for IT? A Developer's 6-Month Experiment

I spent almost ₹50,000 on AI subscriptions over the last 6 months. Claude Pro at $100/month. Kimi at $39/month. A couple of others I'd rather not mention.

Then one day I asked myself a dangerous question: Am I actually getting value from these, or am I just paying for the fear of missing out?

So I ran an experiment. I switched everything off. Moved to Opencode with DeepSeek Flash — a completely free setup. Same Laravel projects. Same React Native work. Same deadlines.

What I Found

The output was identical. Same quality code. Same speed. Same ability to handle CRUD apps, API integrations, database migrations, and frontend components. The free model did everything I needed for my day-to-day work.

Laravel backends: Models, controllers, migrations, Form Requests — all handled perfectly by the free model.
React Native apps: Components, navigation, state management, API calls — no premium model needed.
Debugging: Error traces, logic issues, edge cases — the free model caught them just as well.

The only thing premium models gave me was confidence bias. I assumed they were better because they cost more. The reality? For the vast majority of IT sector work, a free model is more than sufficient.

💡 Pro Tip: Before committing to a premium AI subscription, test your actual workflow with a free model first. You might be surprised how far it takes you. The marketing makes you believe you need the best — but "good enough" is often all you need for production work.

The Real Takeaway

I'm not saying premium AI has no place. For specialized tasks — complex refactoring, architecture generation, massive codebases — there's a difference. But for 90% of the IT sector's daily work, a free model is completely adequate.

The AI FOMO is real. The marketing is working. But the smartest developers I know are the ones who stopped chasing the premium tier and started focusing on what actually matters: understanding their codebase, not just generating more code.

Want to discuss Laravel development with practical AI workflows? Let's talk — I consult on building scalable PHP applications without unnecessary tooling overhead.

Journal

Is AI Overhyped for IT? A Developer's 6-Month Experiment

Is AI Overhyped for IT? A Developer's 6-Month Experiment

What I Found

The Real Takeaway

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