Users spending several hundred dollars a month on generative AI services are increasing, including Anthropic’s top-tier plan Claude Max priced at $200 a month, about 300,000 won. They are using AI as an essential tool to boost work productivity and generate income, not simply to try it out.

Business Insider reported on June 15 that the number of users simultaneously using expensive AI subscriptions such as Claude Max, ChatGPT Pro and Google AI Ultra is growing.

What they share is viewing AI as work infrastructure, not a consumer product. Drew Dawson, who studies philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Southern California, spent a total of $449, about 670,000 won, on AI subscriptions in May alone. He used Claude Max and ChatGPT Pro at the same time, but said he could recoup the cost through side-income generated using AI. "$400 a month is definitely expensive, but considering the income and time it brings, it is worth it," Dawson said.

Some users spend more than $1,000, about 1.5 million won, a month on AI subscriptions. Sterling Cobe, chief technology officer at software company Flowstate, uses three Claude Max accounts together with ChatGPT Pro and Google AI Ultra and spends more than $1,000 a month. He said he is maximising work efficiency by combining token limits and strengths across services.

Dominik Martin, a product designer in Germany, also subscribes simultaneously to paid plans for Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini. He said the AI subscription costs can be fully recouped as work expenses because he runs multiple projects in parallel.

The most important criterion for AI users is time savings. Devin Hill, an AI engineer in Nashville, said he would keep using the services even if prices rise further. "The moment you hit a session limit, the time you have to work directly increases," he said, adding that productivity loss is a bigger cost.

Rebecca Bultsma, a researcher in Calgary, Canada, uses Claude and ChatGPT’s $200-a-month plans at the same time and runs multiple AI agents. One agent collects article and social media data, while another analyses emails and websites. "For busy people, the time AI saves is money," she said. "The cost-effectiveness calculation is very simple."

Complaints are also growing about price burdens and weaker performance. Alyssa Clark, a certified public accountant in Tampa, said she used Claude-related services such as Claude Cowork and Claude Code and recently spent more than $100 a month on Codex, but plans to reduce usage. "Claude has become slower than before and seems to use unnecessarily many tokens," she said. She also mentioned concerns about becoming overly dependent on a specific AI service.

Such complaints have also appeared with Anthropic’s recently released Opus 4.7 model. Anthropic acknowledged some issues related to rising costs but denied claims that it intentionally lowered the model’s performance.

Even so, the premium AI subscription market is growing rapidly. Michael Averto, a product manager at Shopify, said he is testing several AI models but is still keeping Claude. He said he often hits usage limits but still considers it worthwhile because it reliably performs the tasks he wants.

The market analyses this trend as showing a new consumption pattern in the generative AI industry. In the past, subscribing to a single service was common, but now a strategy is spreading in which multiple AI models are used at the same time to distribute performance, usage limits and speed. As a result, the consumer AI subscription market is moving beyond simple monthly fee competition into a phase where performance, speed, usage limits and stability of computing resources together determine the price resistance line.