请问HN：对于高成本的副业，哪种定价模型有效？
我最近在开发一个应用程序，它是一个用于通勤时间的仪表板和任务栏小部件。我是为了自己而制作这个应用，这样我就不需要一直通过谷歌搜索来查找通勤时间。老实说，我很惊讶这个应用并不存在，但现在我明白原因了。原因显而易见，因为实时交通数据的成本非常高。我的服务提供商每千次调用大约要2.50美元。
因此，每条往返路线的费用大约是每月4美元（每条路线2次调用 * 每小时1次调用 * 24小时 * 30天）。在我看来，这个原始成本相当高，还不包括我的利润。我认为在这个时代，考虑到有这么多免费的API，普通人（包括我自己）不会想到一个简单的交通小部件会花费如此之多。此外，我当然希望更新频率是可配置的。也许有些人希望每15分钟更新一次。不幸的是，这样一来，我们的成本就会增加四倍。再考虑到每个用户可以添加N条路线，有些用户可能有5条路线，这样他们的开支突然就变成了80美元！我相信很少有人愿意花这么多钱。
我最初想的是按使用量收费，这样用户就会有动力减少使用量。也就是说，我可以设置一个活跃小时功能，让他们只输入通勤的时间。
但每一条定价建议都说不要对用户进行计费。公平地说，尽管AI服务的成本也很高，但几乎没有面向消费者的服务按使用量收费。他们使用的是代币包的方式加上超额费用。但老实说，我认为这对他们来说之所以可行，是因为他们正在用风险投资资金大幅补贴用户。如果我没记错的话，他们很多20美元的计划，实际上要达到收支平衡大约需要150美元。
我认为，这两种因素——路线数量和更新频率——的组合会产生如此巨大的成本，使我很难想象一个固定订阅计划的世界。
在查看其他具有类似价格动态的业务时，我发现了我称之为“家庭安防摄像头”模型的模式，他们收取固定费用，并对每个摄像头额外收费。最近，一家大型摄像头公司转向这种模式，因为他们的固定年费根本行不通。也就是说，对于一个有1个摄像头的用户和一个有10个摄像头的用户，收费是一样的，而存储1080p和4k视频的成本是不同的。
在这种情况下，你会怎么做？
真诚的，
困惑者
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So I've been working on this app that's a dashboard + taskbar widget for commute times. I made it for myself so I wouldnt have to search for it all the time by googling it. I was honestly surprised it didnt really exist but the reason is now obvious to me. It's because live traffic data is super expensive. Around $2.50 / 1k calls from my provider.<p>So each round trip route would cost around $4/month (2 calls per route * one call per hour * 24 hours * 30 days)
This is quite a lot imo in raw costs, which doesn't even factor in my cut. I think in this day and age with so many free apis, your average person (myself included) would not think a simple traffic widget would cost ANYWHERE near that amount. On top of that, of course I wanted the udpate frequency configurable. Maybe some people want to have it update every 15 minutes. Unfortunately now we are generating x4 in costs. Factor in each user can add N routes, somebody could have 5 routes and now they're suddenly incuring $80! in spend. Which I'm sure _very_ few people would be willing to spend.<p>I originally thought I would just charge for usage so that the user would have incentives to tune down their usage. AKA I could put in an active hours feature so that they could put in only hours of their commute.<p>But then every single piece of pricing advice says to NOT taxi meter the users. And to be fair, despite the similar high cost nature of AI services, almost none of them at the consumer facing front charge per usage. They use the bucket of tokens method + overages. But honestly I think this is only viable for them because they are massivley subsidizing their users with VC money. If I remember correctly, the $20 plan many of them have would have to cost around $150 to break even.<p>I think it's the nature of these 2 levers of route count + frequency, which can generate such wildly amoutns of cost that makes it hard for me to imagine a world of a flat subscription plans.<p>Looking at other busiensses with comparable price dynamics, I found what I'm calling the "home security camera" model, where they charge a flat rate and +X per camera. Recently a large camera company moved to this because their flat annual subscription just wasnt working. IE charging the same for a user with 1 camera vs 10, and having to store 1080p vs 4k footage<p>What would you do in this situation?
Sincerely
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