> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.heyaskr.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Why Askr

> Because you're overpaying for your AI subscriptions.

Using AI well used to mean signing up for everything. A plan for chat, another
for a second chat model, one for images, one for video, each with its own login,
its own bill, and its own idea of what you owe each month. The bills renew
whether you use the tool or not, and none of them talk to each other.

Askr replaces that stack with **one balance and one interface.**

## The problem we solve

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Subscription sprawl" icon="layer-group">
    Four or five monthly bills for tools you each use a fraction of. It adds up
    fast, and most of it goes unused.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Vendor lock-in" icon="lock">
    Subscribe to one lab and you're tied to its models, even when a better one
    launches somewhere else.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cards everywhere" icon="credit-card">
    Every service wants your card on file, your details, and a recurring charge
    you have to remember to cancel.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No clear costs" icon="eye-slash">
    Flat monthly fees hide what each thing actually costs. You never see the
    price of a single request.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What you're really paying

Here is what the leading tools actually cost if you subscribe to them one by one.

<Info>
  These figures are indicative examples, current at the time of writing. Provider
  pricing and tiers change often, so treat them as a guide rather than a quote.
</Info>

### Chat

Claude, one of the strongest chat and reasoning models, is billed monthly with no
annual discount:

* **Pro:** \$20 per month.
* **Max (5x):** \$100 per month.
* **Max (20x):** \$200 per month.

If you want the higher usage limits serious work needs, you are quickly at \$100 a
month for a single chat provider, before you add a second model for the tasks it
handles better.

### Images

Google's Nano Banana has no standalone plan. It is bundled into Google's AI
tiers:

* **AI Plus:** \$7.99 per month.
* **AI Pro:** \$19.99 per month.
* **AI Ultra:** \$249.99 per month.

Realistically, meaningful use lands around **\$20 per month** on the AI Pro tier.
Alternatively you can pay per image through an API, from roughly **\$0.039** up to
about **\$0.24** for a 4K image.

### Video

Video tools are their own monthly commitment:

* **Runway:** \$15, \$35 or \$95 per month for Standard, Pro and Max.
* **Kling:** from \$6.99 per month.

Most creators who use video regularly land around **\$20 to \$37 per month.**

## Add it up

> A top chat model, image generation and video is already about
> **\$100 + \$20 + \$28 = roughly \$150 a month.** Most of it sits idle in the weeks
> you don't reach for it, and that is before you add a second chat model, a voice
> tool, or another image model.

That is the real cost of the stack: not one bill, but several, each renewing on
its own schedule whether you used it or not. Askr turns that into a single
balance you draw from only when you actually run something.

<Card title="See exactly how much you'd save" icon="calculator" href="https://heyaskr.ai/calculator">
  Add up your current subscriptions and compare them to pay-per-use with our
  calculator.
</Card>

## The case for Askr

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="One balance" icon="wallet">
    Fund once in crypto, held in USDT. Every model draws from the same balance.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Every model, neutral" icon="grid-2">
    GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, FLUX, Kling and more, with no allegiance
    to any single lab. New models arrive, often same-day.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pay per use" icon="coins">
    A few cents per request, priced up front. Nothing monthly, nothing to cancel.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Transparent by default" icon="receipt">
    Every request is itemised with its exact cost. You always see where your
    balance goes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Askr vs a stack of subscriptions

|                      | A stack of subscriptions                | Askr                                 |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| **Cost model**       | Several fixed monthly fees              | Pay per request, no subscription     |
| **Models**           | One lab per subscription                | Every major model, one place         |
| **Switching models** | New signup, new bill                    | Change one string                    |
| **Payment**          | Card on file at each service            | Crypto: BTC, ETH, SOL or USDT        |
| **Balance**          | N/A (you pay whether you use it or not) | One balance, held in USDT            |
| **New models**       | Wait for your provider                  | Added as they launch, often same-day |
| **Cost visibility**  | Hidden in a flat fee                    | Every request itemised               |
| **Idle months**      | Still billed                            | Pay nothing                          |

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/heyaskr/images/stack-vs-askr.png" alt="Five AI subscriptions at $180 a month versus Askr, pay per request" />
</Frame>

## When Askr makes sense

* You use **more than one** AI tool and don't want a bill for each.
* You want to **try new models** the day they launch, without re-subscribing.
* You'd rather **pay for what you use** than a flat fee you may not.
* You prefer to **fund privately with crypto**, no card required.

<Card title="See how it works" icon="arrow-right" href="/about/how-it-works">
  Fund, choose a model, and build. In plain English.
</Card>