r/ArtificialInteligence: Anthropic and OpenAI Subscriptions Are More Unprofitable Than Previously Thought — Updated Analysis Covers Fable 5 Costs and June 15 Metered Pool

A post on r/ArtificialInteligence shares updated cost analysis showing that power users of Claude Code and ChatGPT consume compute at rates that dwarf their subscription fees — with some users' API-equivalent burn exceeding plan prices by 100x or more. The analysis updates January 2026 calculations for Fable 5's higher inference costs and Anthropic's new metered credit pool taking effect June 15, which will affect heavy programmatic users on consumer plans. The thread is attracting attention as both Anthropic and OpenAI approach public listings with heavy user-acquisition subsidies still embedded in their pricing structures, raising questions about how subscription economics will be disclosed in S-1 filings.