I’m trying to cut down my subscriptions, but I still pay for these apps

Gemini, Headspace, Todoist, and YouTube Music are just a few of the apps I used to pay for and have now ditched. I’m trying to lower my monthly subscription bill, and while it’s easier said than done, I’ve managed to bring the list down to just three.

The three apps I still pay for I use daily, and for now, I don’t see myself ditching them. They are well worth the money because they help me get things done and even offer complete privacy — at least two of them.

Claude is my AI chatbot of choice, and for good reason. I practically use it every day, so the monthly subscription is well worth it. It helps me brainstorm title ideas for posts I’m working on, helps me on my fitness journey, and comes in handy when I’m trying to cook a new dish.

What I like about it is that it’s a lot more direct and realistic than something like Gemini, which I subscribed to in the past. It’s more likely to push back on bad ideas and challenge my thinking. Regardless of the topic I chat about with Claude, the experience is always superior to that of Gemini, ChatGPT, or just about any other chatbot I’ve tried out.

Then there are the extra features, like Projects that let me give specific instructions to the AI along with any other data I need it to remember. The best thing about it is that I can store all the chats on a specific topic under a project of choice, which is something that’s not available on Gemini Gems, for example.

Claude is also great at coding and can create an app based on voice prompts in a matter of minutes. I tried out multiple ones and was truly impressed with what it produced.

While it’s better than the competition overall, it still has its faults. There are no image and video generation capabilities, for example, which is one of the reasons why I still occasionally use Gemini. Usage limits are very easy to hit as well, as I was able to do it with just a few prompts not so long ago. I’ve never hit a limit when using Gemini, so that’s definitely an area Claude should improve.

In terms of pricing, Claude comes in at $20 per month, making it by far the most expensive subscription I pay for.

I switched between a lot of note-taking apps, with Obsidian being my latest obsession. I used Keep for a long time before moving to Evernote and eventually to Notion. The latter is what I used for years, but it got too much for me at one point.

Obsidian, like Notion, has a steep learning curve if you want to master all of its features. However, it’s very easy to use as a simple note-taking app if needed, and if that’s the case, it’s easy to get started.

What I like about Obsidian is its offline-first approach designed to keep my files private. Everything is stored on my device, making sure no big tech company has access to my private thoughts. However, the issue here is that I can’t access my files from other devices, which is where the subscription comes in.

Obsidian Sync costs $5 per month and lets me access my files from all my devices. What’s special about it is that it uses end-to-end encryption, which means that Obsidian employees can’t see my files even if they wanted to. That’s a stark contrast compared to most other services, including those offered by Google, where the company can see everything on its servers if it wants to. Sure, companies have privacy policies in place, so it’s not like employees are reading through my notes on their lunch break, but end-to-end encryption still gives me peace of mind, knowing my data is mine and mine only.

I use Obsidian for both long-form writing and taking short notes, and it works great in both cases. It’s worth the subscription for me, although it’s possible to sync it via Google Drive for free — but you’d lose out on end-to-end encryption.

I’m kind of cheating here since this is a suite of apps instead of just one, but they come included in just one subscription called Proton Unlimited. The one I use the most is Proton Drive, which replaced both Google Drive and Photos for me. I have a lot of images to store, and I prefer cloud storage to a local one, even though I am playing with the idea of getting myself a NAS. What I like about Proton Drive — and other Proton apps — is its focus on privacy. No one can see my photos and files but me, which is one of the reasons why I moved away from Google in the first place.

In addition to Proton Drive, I also use Proton Mail as a replacement for Gmail. While not everyone on our team is a fan, I’m impressed with the app overall. It’s easier to see all the newsletters I’m subscribed to and cancel them than on Gmail. The ability to send self-destructing emails comes in handy at times, and end-to-end encryption offers complete privacy — even though you have to fiddle with a few settings to make it work when sending emails outside of Proton’s email service.

Then there’s Proton Authenticator, which I use for accessing my various online accounts, Proton VPN that comes in handy often, especially when traveling, and Proton Pass for saving my passwords.

The last one is particularly impressive, especially since I previously used Bitwarden. Don’t get me wrong, Bitwarden is a great app, but Proton Pass is better for me. There’s zero friction whatsoever, as it just works, while I had issues with Bitwarden not saving — or autofilling — passwords for certain websites.

All in all, I’m happy with Proton Unlimited despite its hefty price tag. I pay $13 per month, although I could get the price down a bit if I prepaid for a whole year.

The only issue I have with it is that Proton Drive is a bit on the slow side, especially when compared to Google Drive and Photos. It’s not that big of a deal, although the speed difference does get annoying after using the app for an extended period of time.

These are the three apps I pay for at the moment, and the total monthly cost comes out to $38. It still feels steep all things considered, but there’s enough value in these three apps for me to continue paying.

What about you? Which apps do you pay for? Let me know in the comments.