[latexr]

> I really don't get the sentiment on HN that everything should be free, sorry.

That’s not what your parent comment is arguing. The point is that it’s hard to sustain a business against competitors which offer the same thing for free, and the higher your price point the harder it is.

Maybe you aren’t offering the same thing or your service is so much better that it is worth the price, but that’s a different argument.

> And how can they stay free (…), how long do you think they'll stick around and get new features all the time?

I use one of this other services. It is open-source and I don’t know what their costs are, but it’s been working for me for years. I have zero need for more features from them, I’m happy with the simplicity. That I know of they don’t have LLM costs because they don’t use LLMs, and to me that is a plus. If your service is using LLMs, that honestly makes me less interested in it.

[RamblingCTO]

That's fine, I'd say that the parent comment didn't check out the website before arguing over the price. I'd say it's an entirely different service. Great that whatever solution you use works for you, love that. I wanted something more, so I built my solution. I don't think I'll ever get rich, but the cost structure is prohibitive just for myself.