I canceled ChatGPT Plus and 2 other AI subscriptions — here’s what I replaced them with

A few months ago, I reviewed my AI subscriptions and simply asked: “Am I actually using this?” The answer, in three out of four cases, was not really. I was paying for Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT Plus, and Perplexity Pro. Each served a different purpose on paper, but in reality, I used them similarly and paid three times for the same convenience. I canceled all three, switched to free alternatives, and saved about $50/month in the process

To make sense of my choices and their consequences, let me lead you through what I cut, what I replaced it with, and my honest take on the tradeoffs.

Adobe Firefly → Ideogram

I subscribed to Adobe Firefly because of one specific selling point: it’s trained on licensed content, which, in theory, makes it safer to use commercially. For anyone producing content professionally, that matters, or at least it sounds like it should.

The reality is that I was generating AI images occasionally, not constantly. And Firefly’s output, while clean, rarely blew me away. I was paying for a safety guarantee I didn’t often need and image quality that free tools have largely caught up to.

I switched to Ideogram for header images, social graphics, and occasional illustrations for my travel site. In my case, I use the occasional images for 48-hour city guides and social graphics for the site’s Instagram account.

The free tier gives you plenty of generations, and the quality of photorealistic and stylized prompts is impressive. I haven’t once wished I were back on Firefly.

What I miss about Firely: The commercial licensing peace of mind, if I’m being honest. If you’re producing work where IP ownership is a real concern, Firefly’s training data argument still holds. For most casual users, though, it’s hard to justify the cost.

Verdict: I canceled Firefly because I didn’t need its specific advantages and found that free alternatives were sufficient for my needs. No regrets here.

ChatGPT Plus → free ChatGPT (with a caveat)

This one is trickier to talk about because I didn’t just switch to free ChatGPT; I already had Claude Pro, which costs about the same as ChatGPT Plus. As such, I didn’t really save $20; I redirected it. But the cancellation was still worth it.

I kept ChatGPT Plus mostly out of habit. Most of my use was for quick queries that free ChatGPT could handle. The real issue wasn’t its capability, but that I was using it automatically.

As a freelance tech writer, the audit was about identifying which tools truly added professional value.

If you’re a casual ChatGPT user, the free tier covers the vast majority of everyday tasks. Summarizing, drafting, answering questions, helping you think through problems — it’s all there. GPT-4o access on the free tier is rate-limited, but unless you’re regularly hitting those limits, you probably won’t notice.

What I miss about ChatGPT Plus: Unlimited access to GPT-4o. On heavy-use days, the rate limits on the free tier are real and occasionally frustrating. If you’re a power user who leans on ChatGPT constantly throughout the day, Plus may still be worth it.

Verdict: I canceled ChatGPT Plus because it overlapped with Claude Pro, and the free version met my day-to-day needs. This made the decision easier.

Perplexity Pro → free Perplexity

This might be the most straightforward of the three cancellations. I subscribed to Perplexity Pro for its AI-powered search and additional features, but the simple truth is that I didn’t use them.

I mostly used Perplexity for quick research, where I wanted synthesized answers with verifiable links. The free tier did this just as well; I rarely hit its limits, and model differences weren’t significant for my needs.

The Pro upsell makes more sense if you’re doing heavy, sustained research and need access to the expanded model. For regular use, the free version is one of the better free tools in the AI space, full stop.

What I miss about Perplexity Pro: Nothing, genuinely. This is the cleanest cancellation of the three.

Verdict: I canceled Perplexity Pro because the free tier provided everything I needed. No features were missed, and there were no drawbacks.

The paid AI subscription I kept

Having said all of that, I still pay for one AI subscription: Claude Pro.

To be clear, this isn’t a criticism of the tools above — they each work well. However, of all my subscriptions, Claude Pro was the only one performing regular, specific tasks I couldn’t get for free elsewhere. Like my colleague Andrew Grush recently discovered, I found that moving from ChatGPT to Claude Pro was good for me.

I use Claude Pro for journalism, B2B client work, coding for my site, and writing a novel, which requires managing complexity over long sessions. For journalism, client work, and a novel in progress, Claude Pro was indispensable in ways the other services above weren’t.

The right subscription is different for every person. Your audit might land somewhere completely different. The point isn’t which tool wins — it’s doing the audit in the first place.

What this exercise actually taught me

The real lesson wasn’t about AI tools, but the gap between my perception and reality.

I subscribed to Firefly for commercial licensing, kept ChatGPT Plus out of habit, and tried Perplexity Pro for its appealing features. None of those are great reasons to keep spending money.

If you haven’t looked at your AI subscriptions lately, open your credit card statement and ask yourself the same question I did: Am I actually using this? Not “could I use this” or “do I like having this” — am I using it enough to justify the cost?

You might be surprised by the answer.