Has anybody built and monetized a successful AI chatbot-type mobile/web app? I am working on a chatbot mobile app for a niche within the therapy space, and while I am still building out broader features and testing it, I can see how quickly this may become difficult to scale due to the cost of the AI (tokens). I am using OpenAI 3.5 turbo and have got it to behave as I wanted, however, I was planning on using a freemium model. I.e., paid monthly premium sub, and a limited free model with rewarded/interstitial ads. However, I have noticed many of the AI chat apps are predominantly free and not ad-supported. I have seen others go the Product-Hunt release route. But I’m sure someone here is well-versed in monetization/cost reduction for carry (ongoing API cost). I was hoping you might have some wisdom to impart. or maybe someone knows where I can find more information on this? I feel like I am stuck at an impasse where the ad revenue/sub-conversion would need to be significant in order to break even on the cost of the API/token use. how are these free chat-bot style apps carrying the significant running cost, let alone making a profit?
