The problem with Big Tech AI pricing (and why a $2 alternative exists)

The problem with Big Tech AI pricing Let's talk about something nobody at OpenAI or Anthropic wants to discuss openly. $20/month sounds reasonable if you're in San Francisco. It's two lattes. It's one Uber ride. It's noise. But $20/month is not noise if you're a developer in Lagos, Dhaka, or Nairobi. At current exchange rates: $20/month = ₦32,000 in Nigeria $20/month = BDT 2,200 in Bangladesh $20/month = KSh 2,600 in Kenya $20/month = Rs 1,600 in India $20/month = EGP 980 in Egypt That's not a coffee. That's days of salary for junior developers in those countries. The structural problem Big Tech AI pricing is built around one market: US knowledge workers who expense subscriptions to their employer. This is a deliberate choice. It's not an oversight. OpenAI knows exactly what $20 means in different currency contexts. They just don't care, because the addressable market they're optimizing for is North America + Western Europe. The result: AI is becoming a tool for the already-privileged.