How a rescue dog inspired me to build a $2/month AI — and why 50% of revenue goes to animal rescue
Let me tell you about Louie.
Louie was a scruffy terrier mix who ended up in a municipal shelter in the American South. He'd been there for 47 days when his time was nearly up. A rescue volunteer saw his photo, shared it online, and within 24 hours, a foster family in another state had committed to taking him.
That's it. That's the whole story. One share. One dog saved.
I built SimplyLouie because of dogs like Louie — and because I watched AI become something that only wealthy people in wealthy countries could access.
The two problems that shouldn't exist
Problem 1: ChatGPT costs $20/month. In Nigeria, that's 3-4 days of a developer's salary. In the Philippines, it's nearly a week's wages for many workers. In India, it's ₹1,600 — more than most people spend on food in a week.
AI is becoming the most powerful productivity tool in human history. And we're building it in a way that excludes most of humanity from the start.
Problem 2: Animal shelters are overwhelmed. Millions of dogs and cats are euthanized every year — not because no one would want them, but because there's no money for the infrastructure to connect them with people who would love them.
These problems don't seem connected. But they are.
The $2/month solution
I built SimplyLouie as a Claude-powered AI assistant that costs $2/month globally — the same price whether you're in San Francisco, Lagos, Manila, or Mumbai.
That's ₦3,200/month in Nigeria. P112/month in the Philippines. ₹165/month in India. Affordable everywhere.
50% of every dollar goes directly to animal rescue organizations.
Not as a marketing trick. Not as a percentage of profits after expenses. 50% of every dollar, from the first cent.
Why I named it after a rescue dog
Louie (the dog) made it. He was fostered, then adopted by a family in Colorado. He's seven years old now and apparently terrible at catching frisbees but excellent at stealing socks.
I named the product after him because the story of animal rescue is actually a story about what happens when you lower the barrier to caring. When someone can share a photo in 30 seconds, one dog gets saved. When AI costs $2 instead of $20, one developer in Lagos gets to build something that changes their community.
Lowering barriers creates cascading effects. That's the whole thesis.
The technical part (for developers)
SimplyLouie runs on Claude's API. You can access it directly:
curl -X POST https://simplylouie.com/api/chat \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-d '{"message": "What is the best way to structure a REST API?"}'
$2/month gets you:
- Unlimited conversations via the web interface
- API access for developers
- Claude-powered responses (the same model that powers many enterprise AI tools)
- The knowledge that 50% of your $2 is going to help animals
Who this is for
If you're a developer in a country where $20/month is a significant financial decision, SimplyLouie is built for you.
If you're someone who believes AI should be a tool for everyone — not a luxury product — SimplyLouie is built for you.
If you've ever shared a photo of a dog that needed a home, SimplyLouie is built for you.
Where Louie is today
I check in on Louie's Instagram sometimes. He's a chaos agent. He has strong opinions about squirrels. His family loves him completely.
When I see his photos, I think about the developer in Nairobi who couldn't afford the tools they needed. The student in Manila trying to build something that matters. The small business owner in Lagos who could transform their operation with AI assistance — if only it didn't cost a week's wages.
$2/month. 50% to animals. Claude-powered.
That's it. That's the product.
Try it free for 7 days: simplylouie.com
No credit card tricks. Cancel anytime. Louie (the dog) would approve.
Available with local pricing for India, Nigeria, Philippines, Kenya, Ghana, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Top comments (1)
The "lowering barriers creates cascading effects" framing is the cleanest articulation of why accessible pricing matters — it's not just a moral argument, it's a product thesis. When I look at the traffic data for projects I've built, the international audience (Nigeria, India, Philippines, Indonesia) consistently punches above its weight in engagement because they're solving real problems rather than exploring novelty. Price exclusion doesn't just lose customers, it loses the most motivated users.
The 50%-from-dollar-one structure is also worth calling out explicitly: most "charitable" products do percentage-of-profit, which turns out to be close to zero until scale. Revenue-first giving is a fundamentally different commitment and I imagine it changes how you think about cost management and pricing.
Curious about the API economics at $2/month — Claude's API charges per token, so a heavily conversational user could run negative margin quickly. Are conversations capped by session length or monthly token budget, or do you eat the overages as a cost of mission? Would be useful to know for anyone thinking about building something similar.