Elevator Pitch

• AI companies like Anthropic are eroding trust by advertising "unlimited" usage for coding assistants, then quietly imposing strict usage caps on power users once they've grown dependent on the tools.

Key Takeaways

• The "bait-and-switch" pricing strategy—offering generous limits, building user reliance, then capping heavy users—is now commonplace in the AI coding tool market, with Anthropic's Claude Code being the latest example.
• These limits disproportionately affect the most influential and committed users (power users, early adopters, and team leaders), which undermines trust and slows broader adoption.
• Transparent, predictable pricing—where users control their spending and are informed of limits up front—is both possible and necessary for sustainable AI tool adoption.

Most Memorable Aspects

• The "trust tax": Each instance of bait-and-switch pricing makes developers more cautious and less likely to invest fully in new tools.
• Vivid user quotes highlight anxiety: Developers fear hitting weekly limits mid-workflow and dread being locked out of essential tools for days.
• Kilo Code's alternative: A straightforward, credits-based model with no hidden caps and expiring bonuses, presented as a clear contrast to industry norms.

Direct Quotes

• "You're not frustrating 5% of users—you're breaking trust with the exact people who drive growth and adoption."
• "When developers get 'rate limit exceeded' while debugging at 2 AM, they're not thinking about your infrastructure costs—they're shopping for alternatives."
• "Be honest about costs, let users control limits, and make pricing predictable."