My 2025 AI Subscriptions: The Keepers for 2026
â–Ľ Summary
– The author’s total AI spending for 2025 was $1,665, with Adobe Creative Cloud initially constituting about half of that expense before being downgraded.
– Agentic coding tools like OpenAI Codex and Claude Code were highly impactful, enabling years of coding work to be completed in just days for a few hundred dollars.
– The author uses and personally pays for many AI tools, including Midjourney, ChatGPT Plus, and Notion AI, to maintain unbiased reviews and for their time-saving benefits.
– A significant cost-saving measure was switching from the full Adobe Creative Cloud plan to a cheaper Photography plan, drastically reducing the monthly Adobe fee.
– Despite the high cost, the author concludes the AI tools were worth the investment for the substantial productivity gains and time savings they provided.
Reflecting on the year, my total investment in artificial intelligence tools reached $1,665. This spending was driven by a significant shift in the technology landscape, particularly the rise of agentic AI capable of executing complex tasks. The most transformative tools were those for coding, where a $300 investment in agentic coding platforms accomplished what would have taken years of manual work in just days. Interestingly, Adobe Creative Cloud initially represented half of my total bill, a cost I later managed to reduce substantially through a strategic plan change.
The year began with a modest suite of subscriptions: Midjourney for image generation, ChatGPT Plus for research and analysis, and the full Adobe Creative Cloud. By May, my cumulative spend was $500, with Adobe accounting for $350 of that total. The real shift began in the summer when I integrated OpenAI’s API into a personal article archiving system, adding $35 to my costs over three months for automated keyword analysis.
Everything changed in September with the exploration of vibe coding. Using OpenAI’s Codex through ChatGPT Plus, I completed an estimated 20 days of coding work in 12 hours. The experience was so powerful that I temporarily upgraded to a $200 Pro plan to bypass usage limits. In just four days, I developed four add-on products for a WordPress security plugin—a pace of output that previously took a full year. After the project, I reverted to the standard Plus plan. I also added Notion AI for $20 a month to automate database creation, a tool that proved invaluable for specific organizational tasks.
The coding journey continued in November with Claude Code. Starting with a $20 Pro plan, I quickly exceeded its capacity and moved to a $100 Max plan. Over 17 days, I built a fully-featured, custom iPhone app for managing 3D printing materials. The speed and capability were staggering, convincing me to keep this subscription active for a few more months to develop companion apps for Mac and Apple Watch.
By December, I confronted the elephant in the room: the Adobe expense. While invaluable, the $70 monthly Creative Cloud fee was unsustainable for my primarily Photoshop-centric use. I explored alternatives like Canva and Affinity, but they couldn’t match my decades-deep efficiency in Photoshop. My solution was to downgrade to Adobe’s Photography plan at $20 per month, accepting a lower allotment of generative credits to preserve my core workflow. This single change dramatically altered my annual spending breakdown.
For 2026, several subscriptions are secure. ChatGPT Plus remains essential for its analytical power and access to evolving tools. Claude Code has earned its place for rapid application development. I’m evaluating Midjourney and Notion AI; each provides unique, high-value functions that are hard to replicate, making them likely keepers. The revised Adobe plan strikes a necessary balance between cost and capability.
The key lesson from this year is intentional budgeting and regular review. The value of an AI tool must be measured in tangible time saved versus its monthly cost. I cancel services immediately when their active utility ends, even if I might resubscribe later. For professionals, these tools aren’t just novelties; they are force multipliers. The $300 spent on coding agents delivered an astronomical return on investment, compressing development timelines from years into days. While my spending is partly tied to writing reviews, the core productivity gains are very real. The strategic move to cut the Adobe bill in half proves that ongoing cost management is just as important as adopting new technology.
How does your experience compare? Are you tracking your AI subscriptions, and have you found certain tools to be indispensable for saving time or unlocking new capabilities?
(Source: ZDNET)
