API is the way to go
I’ve moved from paying OpenAI for their ChatGPT app and using the free version of Anthropic’s Claude to using both of their APIs. It takes more setup than downloading the ChatGPT app and paying your $20 a month. However, most people will probably use less than $5 a month in API fees. Most chat AI apps also allow you to input multiple API keys. Currently I have both Claude from Anthropic and OpenAI API accounts and use them both in apps on Mac and iOS. Its great to have two to compare between, while only spending $5-10 a month rather than $40 a month!
Mac
I use MindMac. You can use it for free for a while but then it is a one-time purchase. MindMac allows you to put in your API keys from multiple AI LLM services. It seems well thought out and gets regular updates. There are some free alternatives but they aren’t as easy to use. LibreChat was one I tried for a few minutes, but it requires you to install docker first.
iOS
I’ve been using Pal Chat. It is free app made by a redditor that allows you to use your API keys. It simple and easy to use, and easy to switch between AI providers. I’m using GPT-4o or Claude 3.5 Sonnet most of the time and its great on the app.
iOS Shortcuts
The APIs make ios shortcuts very flexible. For example, I made a shortcut that allows me to save a webpage as a “bookmark” in my notes app Logseq (could also easily do Obsidian). It gives me the options to send the webpage to openai to summarize the text and then pastes the summary in the note created in Logseq. One of the benefits of using the API rather than the ChatGPT app (besides cost) is it is so much faster in getting a response from OpenAi. Here’s the shortcut
Things to note
When using the API, you need to create your own intro prompt for the LLM. Most of the apps you pay for have a default one they use. What is nice about using your API keys and one of the apps above is you can customize your own prompt. For example, I have one I use when I have work-related questions and I have a general prompt. Here’s my general prompt:
You’re a helpful assistant. Provide clear and thorough answers but be concise. If you don’t know the answer, just say you don’t know. You can ask me questions if that will help you give me a better answer. My career depends on you giving me a good and truthful answer.
