Are there available numbers to support this? Software engineering in the U.S. is well-compensated. $200/mo is a small amount to pay if it makes a big difference in productivity.

Yes, but that doesn't mean they aren't finding real value

The challenge with the bubble/not bubble framing is the question of long term value.

If the labs stopped spending money today, they would recoup their costs. Quickly.

There are possible risks (could prices go to zero because of a loss leader?), but I think anthropic and OpenAI are both sufficiently differentiated that they would be profitable/extremely successful companies by all accounts if they stopped spending today.

So the question is: at what point does any of this stop being true?

A very productive minority.

The point is that if a minority is prepared to pay $200 per month, then what is the majority prepared to pay? I also don’t think this is such an extreme priority, I also know multiple people in real life with these kinds of selections.

Depends a lot on the way people use them.

If you discusses a plan with CC well upfront, covering all integration points where things might go off rail, perhaps checkpoint the plan in a file then start a fresh CC session for coding, then CC is usually going to one shot a 2k-LoC feature uninterrupted, which is very token efficient.

If the plan is not crystal clear, people end up arguing with CC over this and that. Token usage will be bad.

Anecdotally, usage rises precipitously when you are building a system from scratch with unlimited ai access.

If you're using Claude Code with any regularity then the $200/m plan is better than a Costco membership in value.

I'm finding myself agreeing with you... After also being a Max plan power user.

Now I just find myself exasperated at its choices and constant forgetfulness.

how do you integrate that with a code editor ?