Hms...

How many subscriptions

Guides

How to cut overlapping AI subscriptions

By ssunibear · Published November 7, 2026 · Updated November 7, 2026

AI subscriptions pile up in a predictable way. You sign up for a chat assistant, then a coding tool that includes its own chat, then an image generator for one project, then a note-taking app whose business plan now bundles AI. Each charge looks small, but several of them often do the same job. This guide is a short process for finding that overlap and trimming it without giving up the features you actually rely on.

Step 1: list everything you pay for

Start with an honest list. Card statements are the most reliable source, because they show charges you may have forgotten, including annual renewals that only appear once a year. Add each one to the Hms calculator with the plan you are on, the price you actually pay and the day it renews. The total at the top is usually the moment people decide this is worth doing.

For each plan, write down in one line what you use it for in a typical week. "Drafting emails and summarising PDFs" is useful; "AI stuff" is not. Plans you cannot describe in a sentence are the first candidates to cancel.

Step 2: group plans by the job they do

Overlap is easiest to see when you group tools by job rather than by brand. The categories in the calculator are a good starting point:

If you have two or more paid plans in the same group, that group is where the savings are.

Step 3: look for hidden bundles

Many plans now include features from another category, so overlap is not always obvious from the names:

Step 4: pick one plan per job

For each group with more than one plan, choose the one you would keep if you could keep only one. A few questions help:

  1. Which one do you open first when you have a real task?
  2. Which one has a feature you cannot get elsewhere, such as a specific model, an integration with your editor, or a file limit you need?
  3. Which one would you notice missing within a week?

Then cancel or downgrade the rest. Downgrading to a free tier, where one exists, is a low-risk middle step: you keep the account and history, and you find out quickly whether you miss the paid features.

Step 5: replace occasional use with free tiers or usage-based pricing

Some subscriptions exist for tasks you do once a month. For those, a monthly plan is often the most expensive way to pay.

Step 6: check the plan level, not just the service

Sometimes the overlap is within a single service. Higher tiers mostly buy more usage, so it is worth checking whether you actually reach the limits of the plan you are on. Claude's Max plan at $100 a month gives five times the usage of Pro at $20; Cursor's tiers run from Plus at $8 up to Ultra at $200. If you have not hit a usage limit in the last month, a lower tier may do the same work. The price list shows every tier side by side.

An example

Imagine someone paying for ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, Perplexity Pro, Cursor Premium and Canva Pro. On review, they use Claude for writing, Cursor for code (including its chat for coding questions), Perplexity for sourced research twice a month, ChatGPT only out of habit, and Canva for social images every week.

That removes one or two plans, which at Korean prices with VAT is typically tens of thousands of won a month, without losing anything they use weekly.

Make it a habit

Prices and bundles change often, so a quick review every few months keeps the list honest. Keep your plans in the calculator, note each billing day, and use the Remind button to put renewals in your calendar so you can decide before a charge rather than after it. For the costs that come on top of list prices in Korea, read what AI subscriptions really cost in Korea.