Dev Slams Users Who Assume Paid Apps Mean VC Money: 'The Awakening Will Be Harsh'
burkov · x · 2026-09-11
Developer Burkov outlines four assumptions users make about apps with paid plans: you must have VC money to burn, you must already be rich, you must be selling user data, and free features should be entirely free. He notes 95% of his app's features and 100% of its content are free, yet users still resist paying. He predicts a harsh awakening when Anthropic and OpenAI run out of subsidized pricing and start charging what things actually cost.
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