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Ask HN: Have you cancelled any software subscriptions because AI replaced them?

10 points by maxim_bg ↗ HN
I went through all my subscriptions recently and haven't cancelled a single one because of AI - neither has my girlfriend.

I built some small tools and browser extensions for myself that I use daily. But honestly, I wouldn't have paid for those anyway — maybe a one-time small purchase, but never a subscription.

Curious if others had a different experience. Did you cancel something because chat with LLMs replaced it? Or did you build your own thing and make a paid tool redundant?

12 comments

[ 4.9 ms ] story [ 37.7 ms ] thread
loveparade
There are a few personal scripts I replaced with an LLM prompt/skill. Can't really think of any subscriptions though.
tmatsuzaki
We replaced our CRM with an in-house solution. Since our main use case was simply sending emails to lists, it made more sense for us to manage those lists in Google Sheets and build an LLM-powered workflow for email outreach and nurturing.
_pdp_
Yep. We've canceled some software we could build internally. But biggest win was deploying our own agents to help with the business. So in general, we spend more more money - not less.
xcubic
> But biggest win was deploying our own agents to help with the business.

Can you tell us more?

wmeredith
Grammarly and Squarespace. I have a Gost Pro newsletter I am replacing next with my own custom solution.
sky2224
Chegg is a service many students used to get guidance and answers to homework problems for whatever courses they were taking. It was a sinking ship once GPT 4 came out, but GPT 5 was really it's final nail in the coffin.

I don't know any student that really uses it now.

DarrenDev
Canva - I used it for simple designs but ChatGPT is better

Grammarly - ChatGPT and Claude are way better, and much more customizable. If I were a human editor I'd be very worried.

On the flip side, using ChatGPT for diagrams made me pay for Mermaid. It might only be a one year subscription.

dominotw
what does it mean to pay for mermaid