oh man, i feel u on this. those $20 subs add up FAST when ur just working on side projects, honestly. i was in the same boat a few months ago and felt like i was wasting money on months where i barely coded. so yeah, i did some digging and found a few ways to keep costs lowkey non-existent or at least pay-as-you-go. basically, you dont have to break the bank to get decent AI help. Here's what I recommend based on what works well for me: 1. **The API Route (My personal fav):** I'm currently using the Continue extension for VS Code paired with the Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet API. Instead of paying a flat $20, i just pay for the tokens i actually use. Some months i literally only spend $3 or $4. The refactoring is actually better than Copilot imo, but i guess it depends on the prompt. You just gotta set a spending limit in the dashboard so u dont get a surprise bill. 2. **The Reliable Free Tier:** Codeium Individual tier is honestly pretty solid for a totally free tool. I've been super happy with the autocomplete speed. It's maybe not quite as smart as the latest paid models for super complex logic, but for standard boilerplate? No complaints at all. It's worked well for me on smaller JS projects. 3. **Local LLMs (The DIY way):** If u have a decent GPU, try Ollama. I run the DeepSeek-Coder-V2-Lite-Instruct model locally and it's basically free forever once u download it... well, minus the electricity lol. It's great for privacy too. So yeah, i'd suggest trying the Continue extension for VS Code first with a small $5 credit on an API. It's the best balance of quality and cost. gl! 👍

For your situation, try Supermaven vs the Mistral NeMo API with Continue VS Code Extension. Supermaven is free and SO fast, while Mistral is pay-as-you-go and super cheap. I’m pretty satisfied with both, but Supermaven is easier to set up. Just gotta be careful with usage limits on Mistral. Both work well for solo projects!! GL

Works great for me

Regarding what #5 said about "omg i am in the exact same situation..." and being cautious about where code ends up. Unfortunately, many of the options discussed so far—like the free tiers or the standard $20 subscriptions—are not as good as expected when you actually hit complex logic. It is quite disappointing that most tools gatekeep decent context windows behind a high monthly paywall. If you're looking for a more methodical DIY approach that stays affordable, I suggest moving away from all-in-one subscriptions. My recommendation for a solid solo setup involves a bit of manual configuration:

• Install the Continue VS Code Extension to handle the UI.
• Use the DeepSeek Coder V2 model through their direct API.
• Alternatively, route it through Groq Cloud API for incredibly low latency. Basically, the thread has covered local tools like Ollama and general APIs like OpenRouter, but targeting DeepSeek directly is often the most cost-effective path for a solo dev. You're only paying for the tokens you use, which usually ends up being pennies. It's a bit of a bummer that we have to jump through these hoops to avoid the subscription trap, but this DIY pipeline gives you way more control over your spending and your data privacy.

> finding the $10-20 monthly subscriptions for tools like Copilot a bit steep I went through this last year actually. I compared using local tools vs external APIs. basically Ollama for local is free and private but kinda slow... vs OpenRouter which is pay-as-you-go and super cheap but maybe less private?? idk if i trust the cloud stuff fully but OpenRouter is a decent option if ur on a budget tho!!

omg i am in the exact same situation right now and it is driving me crazy!! i have been trying to weigh the costs of GitHub Copilot versus Cursor AI for months but the subscriptions are just impossible to justify for my solo projects. i love the amazing potential of these tools but i am also so cautious about the privacy side of things and where my code actually ends up... honestly been dealing with this for over two months now and i still havent found a solid answer!! it is just so frustrating that there isnt a perfect safe and cheap option yet!!