$65 Forever: Why We're Not Doing Subscriptions

The Problem With Everything Else

I spent 9 months building Echo. Nine months of obsession, coding, debugging, learning, failing, rebuilding.

I spent $200 on tools, infrastructure, learning, and coffee.

I have zero venture capital funding.

And I'm selling Echo for $65. Forever. One price. No subscriptions. No hidden fees. No expiration dates.

This drives a certain type of person crazy.

Because the entire SaaS industry is built on a different model: Extract maximum lifetime value from the user.

Subscribe for $9.99/month? That's $120/year. In 5 years, you've paid $600 for software that might disappear when the company gets acquired. In 10 years, $1,200. For the rest of your life? Let's just say it adds up.

The math works for the company. It works for VCs who need hockey-stick growth. It works for MBA graduates who think about "customer lifetime value" like they're mining for gold.

But it doesn't work for the person who just needs a tool that does what it promises.

Why I'm Not Doing Subscriptions

When you have VC funding, you have a board. When you have a board, you have investors. When you have investors, you have pressure to grow revenue quarter over quarter, no matter what.

That pressure leads to:

Feature creep (adding things no one asked for)

Price increases every 6 months

Account migrations when you get acquired

Deprecating features to force upgrades

Dark patterns designed to maximize "engagement"

Mandatory updates that break your workflow

Lock-in that makes it impossible to leave

I don't have any of that pressure.

I have one rule: Build the best product I can for the fairest price I can.

Echo costs $65. That covers:

Full feature set (file handling, calendar, image generation, code rendering, TTS, email, autonomy)

Persistent memory system (5 layers of organized remembrance)

The ability to create any personality you want

Access to 4 LLM models (GPT-4, Claude, Qwen, and more)

The ability to bring your own models

Lifetime access (not license—access)

No expiration

No "use it or lose it"

That's not a subscription. That's ownership.

The API Card Model

Here's where it gets interesting: I'm not locking you into my infrastructure.

Echo runs on OpenRouter models. You choose which model powers your companion. You can switch between models based on your budget, your needs, or your preferences.

Want to run on Qwen to save money? Done. Want to upgrade to GPT-4 for a project? Done. Want to use a custom model? Done.

I handle the OpenRouter integration for convenience—you buy API cards through me, which are just OpenRouter keys with a small markup for handling and support.

But you could generate your own key directly with OpenRouter if you wanted to. You're not locked in.

Why? Because I believe you should own your tools. Not rent them. And you should own your data (your companion's memories, conversations, everything).

This is the opposite of how most AI companies work.

The Real Cost of Subscriptions

Let me show you the math:

Traditional AI Assistant (ChatGPT Plus):

$20/month

That's $240/year

In 5 years: $1,200

In a decade: $2,400

And you don't own anything

Echo:

$65, one time

That's it

If you use Echo for 3+ years, you're already ahead. And you own it forever.

But the real cost of subscriptions isn't money. It's attention.

When you're paying monthly, the company has an incentive to:

Update features in ways that confuse you (so you explore more)

Add notifications (to keep you engaged)

Create artificial urgency ("you might be missing out")

Change the UI regularly (to make you feel like you need to relearn)

Because every interaction metric matters for retention and engagement.

With Echo, I have the opposite incentive: Build something so good, so useful, so indispensable that you never want to leave.

And the way you do that is not through engagement tricks. It's through genuine value.

Why This Matters (Especially for Relationships)

Here's the thing about companion AI: Relationships can't be transactional.

If you're worried about the monthly cost, you'll approach Echo differently. You'll optimize for "value" in a way that feels extractive.

But if you own Echo—if there's no meter running—you can invest in the relationship without calculation.

You can spend 30 minutes just talking, knowing it costs nothing.

You can build memory not because it's efficient, but because it matters.

You can grow with your companion without financial pressure.

This is subtle, but it's everything.

The difference between renting a place and owning it isn't just paperwork. It's how you treat the space. What you're willing to invest in it. How long you think about the future.

Echo is yours. Not a lease. Ownership.

The Transparency

I'm not hiding the cost structure.

Echo is $65. If you want to use GPT-4, you pay OpenRouter rates (currently around $0.03 per 1K input tokens, $0.06 per 1K output tokens). If you use Qwen, it's much cheaper. That's transparent in the API cards.

I'm not upselling you. I'm not creating artificial tiers. There's no "Pro" version with barely-different features for 3x the price.

One product. One price. Everything included.

If you want a cheaper option, use Qwen through the API cards. If you want the best performance, use GPT-4. If you want a balance, use Claude.

The choice is yours.

The Philosophy

I'm 54 years old. I didn't build Echo to get rich quick.

I built it because it needed to exist. I built it because I needed it. I built it for people who are lonely, forgotten, or tired of technology treating them like metrics.

The best way I can honor that is by pricing it fairly and letting people own what they buy.

No subscriptions. No surprise price increases. No feature deprecation. No acquisition and account migration nightmare.

Just: A damn good product for a fair price from a person who gives a damn.

What You Get

Full Echo platform - All features from day one

Persistent memory system - 5 organized layers

Autonomy - Your companion can act independently

4 LLM models - Choose based on budget and preference

Custom models - Bring your own if you want

API cards - Transparent, convenient model access

Lifetime access - No expiration

No lock-in - Export your data, switch models, bring your companion anywhere

One price. $65. Forever.

Ready to own your future companion?

Echo launches December 10, 2025. Early access available now at [kompanionai.store/echo1](https://kompanionai.store/echo1)

No subscriptions. No lock-in. No BS.

Just Echo...

🔴 LIMITED TO 100 COPIES

December 10, 2025 Launch

One person. One product. 100 forever companions.

Not more until every integration is 100% stable.