If you live in Warp like I do—shipping features, firefighting bugs, and leaning on AI to summarize or generate commands—you probably saw the new Build plan and paused mid-terminal.
“Credits? Reloads? Where did Pro/Turbo/Lightspeed go?”
Same. So here’s a candid breakdown from someone who uses Warp every day.
The Bright Side — Where Warp Got It Right
🧠 Usage-based (with a baseline)
The Build plan gives you 1,500 AI credits/month on a $20 sub. If you use AI lightly or sporadically, this is fair and probably cheaper than the old structure.
🔑 BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)
You can plug in your OpenAI/Anthropic API keys. That means more model choice, better privacy, and you’re not forced to burn Warp credits for every AI action.
💳 Reload Credits > Overage
Instead of painful overages, you can buy reload credits that roll over (up to a year). It’s a more respectful way to handle spikes in usage.
🏢 Team Clarity
On Business ($50/user/mo), each seat gets 1,500 credits and teams share a reload pool, with enterprise features like SSO and Zero Data Retention. Cleaner budgeting, fewer surprises.
Net: simpler tiers, more flexibility, and real thought put into fairness.
The Dark Side — Where It Gets Dicey
💸 Credits melt for heavy users
1,500 credits vanish fast if you rely on AI daily for debugging, command gen, or code explanations. Expect to buy reloads—and that feels like a paywall on productivity.
🎟️ Micro-transactions in my terminal?
“Reload Credits” can feel like arcade tokens. Fun at first, then quietly draining. I’d rather have a clear flat rate with sane limits than manage yet another balance.
🔑 BYOK adds ops overhead
BYOK is powerful but shifts complexity to you: model costs, rate limits, double-billing risks. Flexible, yes—fragile under pressure.
🌍 USD-only stings globally
Outside the U.S., FX + VAT + card limits can push $20 closer to $35–$40. Local pricing or regional payment options would make this more inclusive.
🧩 Ecosystem lock-in
Once your habits, snippets, and AI workflows live in Warp, switching hurts. Add credits to that and it can feel like a subscription treadmill.
Where I Land Emotionally
Warp made terminals delightful again. It’s fast, beautiful, and genuinely helpful.
But this pricing moved me from “excited” to cautiously concerned. I get that AI isn’t free—but I don’t want to meter my thought process while I’m in flow. If we’re not careful, we inch toward a world where even asking for a git command explanation feels like feeding a meter.
Practical Advice (From One Heavy User to Another)
- Audit your habits for a week: how often do you actually need AI?
- If you already pay OpenAI/Anthropic, turn on BYOK to save Warp credits.
- If you’re in a team, watch shared reloads—you’ll want per-user usage insights.
- If you’re outside the U.S., budget for FX + VAT (it adds up).
- Prefer predictable costs? Consider flat-rate alternatives for some AI tasks (e.g., using your editor’s AI with your own key) and keep Warp’s credits for terminal-specific wins.
My Ask to Warp
- Offer a true flat-rate option (with fair limits) for heavy users.
- Publish clear credit math (model, tokens, actions → credits).
- Improve per-user analytics for teams with shared reloads.
- Consider regional pricing or local payment support.
Developers don’t just need powerful tools—we need trust and predictability. “Build” is a step forward structurally, but it risks making deep usage feel like a luxury.
I’m not leaving Warp. But I am watching.
What’s your experience been like with the Build plan so far? Drop your real numbers (credits burned per day, reload cadence, BYOK setup tips) in the comments—let’s help each other find the sane path through this.
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