Pricing
The AI in publik apps, priced in dollars.
Apps on publik that use AI work the moment you install them, with a little free use to start; after that you pay a published price from a monthly plan or a one-off pack, and you can see every use.
Plans
One balance, shared across every publik app you use. A plan adds to it every week; a pack adds to it once and never expires.
Basic $8.61/month
$8 of AI use a month, shared across every publik app
About 800 typical uses a month at the Balanced level, 8,000 at Fast or 444 at Smart.
It arrives as $1.85 each week, and a week's unused amount does not carry over. Includes $0.61 card processing. Cancel any time; the current week runs out.
Pro $21.06/month
$20 of AI use a month, shared across every publik app
About 2,000 typical uses a month at the Balanced level, 20,000 at Fast or 1,111 at Smart.
It arrives as $4.62 each week, and a week's unused amount does not carry over. Includes $1.06 card processing. Cancel any time; the current week runs out.
Packs $20 · $50 · $100
A one-off top-up that never expires, used after the week's plan amount and any free starter use. $20.91 / $51.80 / $103.30 to pay, including card processing.
A typical use is one question or task sent to the AI, about 1,500 words sent and 375 back. Every price includes card processing as Stripe charges it: 2.9% + 30¢ per payment, and 0.7% more on a plan. publik keeps none of it.
New installs start with $0.25 of free use, and linking a computer to your account adds $0.75 once. Free starter use expires 30 days after it is given.
What a month of AI costs
A subscription, your own AI account, or publik API
Based on 100 uses a week, each about 1,500 words sent and 375 back, at the Balanced level (the default).
- The median paid app$19.99/mo
Runs on the model each product picks · no score we can citeThe median monthly price of the 9 paid apps that publik listings with AI replace.
- Your own AI account$0.57/mo
Runs on MiMo-V2.6-Pro · quality score 46The same model at a model marketplace's listed price, before its fee for adding money. You open the account, add a card and paste its key into the app.
- publik API$4.33/mo
Runs on MiMo-V2.6-Pro · quality score 46publik's published price for the Balanced level, paid from your publik balance.
publik API costs $15.66 a month less than the median paid app at this usage. Your own AI account on the same model costs less still, if you set it up and pay it yourself.
publik API costs less than the median paid app up to about 461 uses a week. Quality: Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.3.2, read 2026-09-22, higher is better.
Why it costs money
- 1
The model is not free. A provider runs the AI model the app talks to and charges for every request. publik pays that bill so the app works the moment it is installed — no account, no key to paste.
- 2
You pay a published price, and it is more than the model costs. Chat is metered in dollars at publik's published price for the tier the app uses. That price sits above what publik pays for the model on purpose: the difference is what keeps publik running, and half of it goes to the developer who built the app. Audio, embeddings and images are passed through at the provider's own price with nothing added.
- 3
Every new computer starts free. A fresh install gets free starter usage with no card and no account. Linking the computer to your account adds a little more, once.
- 4
Nothing is charged behind your back. Usage only ever draws from a plan or a pack you chose to buy. When it runs out, the app tells you and keeps working with your own key.
- 5
You can see every call. The dashboard lists each request, which model answered it, and what it cost you.