[gordonhart]

The main blocker to using the API with an alternative frontend is the cost.

Daily API usage can easily go above the $20/month subscription cost since output tokens are expensive and each new message reuses the whole message chain as input tokens. Especially true if you often upload images or documents.

[freehorse]

Third party providers work through the APIs and thus do not have these issues. I use Kagi but there are many options out there for a price similar to the normal subscription, and plus you get a wider choice of models.