What I Stopped Paying For · 9 apps AI replaces, and the one I kept

01FREE PLAN

The PDF app.

// what you're paying forA monthly fee to open a PDF, read it, and ask what it means.

// what to do insteadDrop the PDF into the chat (the paperclip). Both apps read it. Claude reads the pictures in it too, and can hand you back a new Word or PDF file if you ask.

// type this with the PDF attached

Read this. Tell me the one thing in it that matters most for me, then anything I'd regret missing. Quote the exact line for each. Then answer this: [your question, or delete this sentence]

Keep paying if: you sign documents for a living. Reading and rewriting a PDF is not the same as a legal e-signature. That's still a different app.

// you'll know it worked whenIt quotes the line you were worried about, and you didn't open the PDF app.

Cancelled next: grammar ↓

02FREE PLAN

The grammar checker.

// what you're paying forA subscription that underlines your sentences and makes everything sound like a brochure.

// what to do insteadPaste the thing. One line. It fixes the mistakes and leaves your voice alone, which the underline app never did.

// type this, hit Enter twice, paste your text

Fix the spelling and grammar in this. Keep my words and my tone. Don't make it fancier. Show me only the fixed version.

Keep paying if: you want the red underline inside every app you type in, all day, without pasting. That's the one thing this doesn't do.

// you'll know it worked whenIt comes back sounding like you, with the typos gone.

Cancelled next: resume ↓

03FREE PLAN

The resume builder.

// what you're paying forForty dollars to put your old resume into a template, then forty more to download it.

// what to do insteadUpload your old resume (Word or PDF), paste the job posting where it says [paste it]. Claude can give you back a finished Word file. ChatGPT gives you the text to paste into your own.

// type this, with your old resume attached

Here's my resume and a job posting. Rewrite my resume for this job. Use only things I've actually done, nothing invented. Match their words where it's true. If there's a gap in my work history, ask me about it, don't hide it. Give it back as a Word file if you can, otherwise as text I can copy.

Job posting:
[paste it]

Keep paying if: nope. This one's just gone.

// you'll know it worked whenThe new version names the job's own words back to them, and every line on it is true.

Cancelled next: meals ↓

04FREE PLAN

The meal-planning app.

// what you're paying forTen dollars a month for recipes you scroll past and a grocery list you never open.

// what to do insteadTake a photo of the fridge or the pantry. Drop it in. Tell it who eats and what they won't.

// type this with the photo

Here's what's in my kitchen. We're [number] people, [any allergies or won't-eats]. The [thing] is about to go bad, use it first. Plan five dinners from what's here, then a short grocery list for what's missing. Under 30 minutes each. No recipes I'd need a special pan for.

Keep paying if: the app syncs the list to your partner's phone and that's the whole reason it works in your house. Fair.

// you'll know it worked whenThe first dinner uses the thing that was about to go bad.

Cancelled next: budget ↓

05FREE PLAN

The budgeting app.

// what you're paying forIt connects to your bank, shows you a pie chart, and you still don't know where the money went.

// what to do insteadDownload last month's statement, open it, highlight just the transaction lines (not the top of the page with your account number), copy, paste. Claude will hand you a spreadsheet. ChatGPT does the sorting on the free plan; the file part may need Plus.

// type this, then paste the transactions

Sort these into categories (groceries, eating out, subscriptions, gas, kids, everything else). Total each one. Then list every charge that looks like a subscription or a monthly bill, with the amount. Put it in a spreadsheet.

Keep paying if: you want it to watch your accounts every day without you touching it. This is a once-a-month, two-minute version, and for most people that's more than they were doing.

// you'll know it worked whenThe recurring-charges list has something on it you forgot you were paying for. That's usually how this guide pays for itself.

Cancelled next: translate ↓

06FREE PLAN

The translation app.

// what you're paying forA paid tier to translate more than a paragraph, or to read a photo of a form.

// what to do insteadPaste the text, or take a photo of the letter, the sign, the school form. Both apps read the picture and translate it.

// type this with the text or photo

Translate this into [language]. Keep it natural, the way a person would actually say it, not word for word. If anything is a deadline, a price or an instruction, flag it at the top.

Keep paying if: you need live spoken translation, two people talking. The voice modes are getting there, but I wouldn't cancel that one for a trip yet.

// you'll know it worked whenThe deadline buried in the second paragraph shows up at the top.

Cancelled next: website ↓

07FREE TO BUILD

The website guy.

// what you're paying forA monthly site builder you fight with, or a person you wait on for two weeks to change one line.

// what to do insteadDescribe the page in plain English. Claude builds it in front of you (free plan makes a one-page site; the $20 plan adds Claude Design for the polished version). Mine is live right now. It took an afternoon. Claude gives you a share link the moment it's built, which is enough to show people. Putting it on your own address is a separate step (that's in Runs Without You). ChatGPT can write it too, but Claude shows it to you as a page.

// type this

Build me a one-page website for [what it's for]. Sections: who I am, what I do, how to reach me. Clean and simple, works on a phone. Plain English, no jargon. Here's what I do: [three sentences]

Keep paying for: the address (your domain) and somewhere to host it. Those are a few dollars a month. What you stop paying for is the person or the builder subscription.

// you'll know it worked whenYou show someone the page on your phone and they ask who built it.

Cancelled next: tutor ↓

08FREE PLAN

The tutoring app.

// what you're paying forA subscription that gives your kid the answer, which is the one thing they didn't need.

// what to do insteadChatGPT has a study mode (type @study). Claude has a learning style in the style menu. Both walk the kid to the answer instead of handing it over. Use your account, not theirs, and sit next to them the first time.

// type this, with a photo of the homework

My kid is in [grade]. They'll answer, I'm typing. Don't give the answer. Ask one question at a time and let them try. Say when they're close. Here's the problem: [photo or text]

Keep paying if: your kid needs a human who notices they're frustrated. Some kids do. Try this for two weeks first.

// you'll know it worked whenThe kid gets it wrong twice and right the third time, on their own.

Cancelled next: daily brief ↓

09$20 PLAN

The morning-report person.

// what you're paying forPaying somebody (or some service) to tell you what's on your plate today.

// what to do insteadOn the $20 plan, both apps can run a task on a schedule while you sleep. Mine runs every morning: what's due, what's hot, what to do first, waiting before coffee. Connect your calendar and email first (Day One, setup 4).

// set it up once (Claude: type /schedule in Cowork · ChatGPT: ask it to schedule this)

Every weekday at 6:30am: look at my calendar for today and my email from the last 24 hours. Send me one short note: what I owe people, what needs a reply, and the one thing to do first. Names and specifics. Under 150 words.

Keep paying if: you need a human who makes calls and moves meetings. This one reads and reports. It doesn't pick up the phone.

// you'll know it worked whenYou open your phone and the day is already sorted, and nobody typed it.

Cancelled next: the one i kept ↓

10KEPT

The one I kept: the meeting recorder.

// what people assume"AI can transcribe anything." Not a voice memo it can't hear.

// the honest partNeither app takes an uploaded audio file. You can't drop a voice memo or a meeting recording into the chat and get a transcript. Dictation works (you talk, it types, both apps, free), and ChatGPT has a live recorder on the Mac for paid plans. But the app that records the meeting and gives you the transcript afterward? I still pay for that. (Newer iPhones and Pixels transcribe voice memos on their own. If yours does, paste that transcript below and you're done.)

// what I do with the transcript once I have it

Here's a transcript. Give me: what was decided, who owes what by when, and anything I said I'd do. Skip the small talk.

I'd rather tell you what it can't do than have you cancel something and find out in a meeting.

// you'll know it worked whenYou trust the rest of this page more because this section exists.

Kept it, on purpose only cancelling one? ↓ ↓

What I stopped paying for.

Three things before you cancel anything.

The PDF app.

The grammar checker.

The resume builder.

The meal-planning app.

The budgeting app.

The translation app.

The website guy.

The tutoring app.

The morning-report person.

The one I kept: the meeting recorder.

Start with 5.

Most of these apps were a chat box with a logo on it.

One plan, thirty days, and it earns its keep.

Not ready? Start free.

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