Most AI chat products sell a monthly plan. nonex sells hours. Neither is cheaper for everyone, and the right choice depends on how often and how hard you use it.
The break-even math
A nonex hour costs $5 pay-as-you-go and as little as $2.57 on the biggest monthly plan, billed per minute. Divide a monthly plan's price by your hourly price and you get the number of hours at which both cost the same. Below that number, hourly is cheaper. Above it, the subscription wins.
If you open a chat for an hour every day, that is about 30 hours a month, and a subscription will usually cost less.
When hourly is the better deal
- You use AI in bursts. A few focused sessions a month, then nothing for a week.
- You run agents or scripts. Long prompts and many requests do not change an hourly price, while token-metered APIs charge for every one of them.
- You want parallel work. A session runs several answers at once, across chats and the API.
- You dislike meters you cannot read. A clock is easy to check. Tokens and credits are not.
When a subscription is the better deal
- You chat a little every day.
- You need features we do not offer, such as image generation or voice.
Making hours go further
- Batch your questions and work through them in one session.
- End the session when you are done. Closing the tab does not stop it.
- Remember that each session is billed at least 15 minutes, so a 2-minute question costs 15. Save quick questions for a session you already have open.