I fully believe most software will eventually be free. You’ll pay per use or prepay credits. Subscription SaaS likely a thing of the past in near future. Platforms will earn on fees instead. Fees scale up with users and it works well for AI models. I just can’t see subscriptions competing with usage-based pricing for long the more advanced the vibe coding becomes (or assisted coding).
Discussion
I’m combining a few thoughts here:
Less subs, more usage based
And
Totally free, pay the user, or a small platform fee (micro-payment)
Money that streams enables:
Gaming: Real-time earnings based on viewers, performance, or in-game milestones.
Remote & Knowledge Work: Stream income for hours logged, code committed, or tasks completed.
Content Creation: Receive Lightning micropayments per listener, read, or second of content consumption.
Autonomous Transport & Logistics: Stream payments based on distance, cargo weight, or delivery count in real time.
Software & API-as-a-Service: Charge users per API call or per second of model inference. Stream billing in real time based on usage, not billing cycles.
And much more.
Prices will fall to the cost of production.
The costs to produce software will be energy.
We will enter energy abundance.
Everything is going to zero.