The Cost of Software Hasn't Gone to Zero. Stop Saying It Has.

There's this story going around right now that AI has made software free to build. That anybody with a laptop and a ChatGPT subscription can ship a product over a weekend. That the cost of software has basically hit zero.

Nope. Not even close.

Don't get me wrong — costs have dropped. A lot. What used to take five engineers three months can now get prototyped by one person in a week. That's real. I see it every day in my own work.

But there's a big gap between "cheaper" and "free." And if you're making business decisions based on the "free" story, you're gonna learn an expensive lesson.

What actually costs money

The AI tools aren't free. ChatGPT Pro is $20/month. Claude Pro is $20/month. Copilot is $10/month. And the API calls that power real applications? Those cost real money — and they scale with usage. A chatbot handling ten conversations a day is cheap. Ten thousand? That bill gets real, real quick.

Infrastructure isn't free. Your app still needs servers, databases, storage, domains, monitoring, backups. Cloud bills don't vanish just because AI wrote the code faster.

Maintenance isn't free. Software doesn't just sit there and work forever. Dependencies need updating. Security patches need applying. Bugs show up at 2 AM on a Saturday. Users find edge cases you never dreamed of. AI helps with all of this, but somebody still has to manage it.

Quality isn't free. AI can write code fast. It can also write bad code fast. You still need somebody with experience making good design decisions, handling security, writing tests, and making sure the thing actually holds up at scale. Speed without quality is just faster failure.

Knowledge isn't free. Knowing what to build, how to build it right, and how to dodge the landmines — that comes from years of doing it wrong and then doing it right. AI is an incredible tool in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing. In the hands of someone who doesn't, it's a way to create problems at a speed we've never seen before.

The subscription trap

Here's something most people don't think about: a ton of the software tools you use every day are heavily subsidized. Companies are burning through investor money to keep prices low — sometimes giving stuff away — just to grab market share.

That free tool you love? The company behind it might be losing money on every user. They're betting that once you're hooked, they can raise prices later. Or get bought. Or figure out a business model eventually.

We've seen this movie before. Remember when every streaming service was eight bucks a month? How's that working out?

Same thing's happening with AI tools. Right now, everybody's in a land grab. They're eating the costs to build user bases. But those API bills are real. That compute power costs real money. At some point, the bill comes due.

When it does, the tools you built your business on might suddenly cost a lot more. Or change their terms. Or just disappear.

What this means for you

If you're running a business, here's my take:

Don't confuse subsidized with sustainable. Cheap today doesn't mean cheap tomorrow. Plan for that.

Don't confuse fast with free. AI makes building faster. That's great. But faster still needs skilled people, good decisions, and proper planning.

Don't confuse a demo with a product. AI can help you build a slick prototype in a weekend. Turning that into something reliable, secure, and ready for real customers? That's still real work.

Do take advantage of the moment. Costs ARE lower. Development IS faster. The economics are better than they've ever been. That's a genuine opportunity. Just don't mistake a sale for the everyday price.

The real opportunity

The cost of software hasn't gone to zero. But it's dropped enough to change the math for a lot of businesses. Projects that didn't pencil out two years ago might make sense now. Automations that were too expensive to build might be doable today.

That's the real story. Not that software is free — but that the barrier to entry is the lowest it's ever been. And for businesses that move now, while the tools are good and the economics are favorable, there's a real window.

Just go in with your eyes open. Know what things actually cost. And don't build your strategy on the assumption that today's subsidized prices are tomorrow's reality.

The businesses that treat AI as a tool to work smarter — not a magic wand — are the ones that'll still be standing when the subsidies dry up.