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brian austin
brian austin

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I went back to writing code by hand. Then I found a $2/month AI that changed my mind.

#programming #ai #discuss #productivity

There's a post on Hacker News today with 800+ points: 'I'm going back to writing code by hand.'

I get it. I really do.

AI coding tools have gotten bloated, expensive, and weirdly paternalistic. They autocomplete things you didn't ask for. They're $20/month before you've shipped a single feature. They feel like a tax on thinking.

So I stopped using them for a while.

What happened when I went back to manual

I remembered why I started coding in the first place. The clarity. The intentionality. Every line you type is a decision you made.

But I also remembered: the tedious parts are tedious. Writing boilerplate. Looking up syntax I use once a year. Explaining my architecture to a rubber duck at 2am.

That's not the soul of programming. That's just friction.

The problem wasn't AI. It was the price.

Here's what I think is actually happening in the 'go back to manual' movement:

People aren't rejecting AI assistance. They're rejecting the $20-$30/month subscription that assumes you'll use it as a crutch.

When a tool costs $20/month, you feel pressure to justify it. You use it for everything. It starts to feel like you can't code without it.

What if the tool cost $2/month instead?

Then it's just... there. A calculator you use when you need it. A colleague you can ask without feeling dependent.

What I actually use now

I use SimplyLouie — $2/month flat for Claude AI access.

No per-token billing. No $20 subscription making me feel guilty when I don't use it. No upsell to a $200/month "Pro" tier.

I write my own code. When I'm stuck, I ask. When I need to understand a pattern, I ask. When I'm deep in a rabbit hole at midnight, I ask.

It costs less than a coffee.

curl -X POST https://api.simplylouie.com/api/chat \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"message": "explain this regex without rewriting my code"}'
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That's it. That's the product.

The real lesson from 'writing code by hand'

The devs going back to manual aren't anti-AI. They're anti-dependency. Anti-overpriced-subscription. Anti-tool-that-thinks-for-you.

Those are valid complaints about expensive AI tools.

They're not valid complaints about a $2/month assistant that waits until you ask.

Write your own code. Think your own thoughts. Pay $2/month for the parts where a second opinion genuinely helps.

That's the balance.

7-day free trial, no charge until day 8. Developers get API access included: simplylouie.com/developers

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