I’m comparing the options available to me: Anthropic subscription vs open models via API. If you have to pay via API then open models are cheaper, if you don’t then an Anthropic/OpenAI is cheaper and far better.
Re:Goodbye Claude, Hello Pi
by dingaling911 on Sunday November 08, 2026 @08:56AM
(#50413421)
No, my point is I can get the same work done paying < $100/month with the open models.
The large open models (GLM-5.3, Kimi3, etc) are far more expensive than their large closed equivalents (Opus, Sol), because the closed models are far more subsidized when using subscriptions.
If you see no difference at all in between Opus and Deepseek Flash for your work, that is great! Personally, I found the latter to be unusable for the projects I was working on.
Re:Goodbye Claude, Hello Pi
by dingaling911 on Sunday November 08, 2026 @09:33AM
(#50413695)
Can you describe what you are doing where comparing the two is problematic?
For what it's worth, I use DS flash for statistical analysis, design, scripting, server maintenance. The same I used for Opus.
When I was using anthropic subs, my "equivalent usage" was $6k/month.
On the open models, it's < $100/month.
Same work (actually, more.)