Yeah, all things like this follow a power distribution—a few users use it A TON and both median and average are far smaller than you’d think. Assuming they throttle the biggest users in some way, they’re making some money on paid use. But it’s probably irrelevant to their overall strategy and profitability.
I’d guess the biggest value for them is in showing growth and “willingness to pay” for this, more than the actual money collected.
I’m skeptical. I bet the average user is actually using far less than $20 per month.
(Both the median user and the average usage are probably <$20 per month IMO.)
Keep in mind that the typical user is pretty different from the typical power user as with all products.
This might change some with more long-context usage which burns way more money per second.
(Also, I think API might have a massive margin, I’m unsure.)
[no actual direct knowledge]
Yeah, all things like this follow a power distribution—a few users use it A TON and both median and average are far smaller than you’d think. Assuming they throttle the biggest users in some way, they’re making some money on paid use. But it’s probably irrelevant to their overall strategy and profitability.
I’d guess the biggest value for them is in showing growth and “willingness to pay” for this, more than the actual money collected.