New: a plan finder and a plan head-to-head tool

DeepFrugal has two new plan tools: a plan finder and a plan head-to-head. Both answer plan questions the cost calculators do not.

# Plan finder: rank the whole field on your mix

The plan finder takes one monthly model mix and values it against every subscription plan and every pay-as-you-go gateway. Build the mix under Model mix, or start from a preset, then read the ranked list.

The list ranks by monthly cost and marks the winner. Each row shows the monthly cost, the cost over quota, the share of the quota used, the gap to the cheapest row, the privacy of the mix, the speed and the catalog size. Its top row is the cheapest pay-as-you-go route: each model billed at the cheapest real rate found across every gateway.

Open Options to change the ranking. Rank by switches between Cheapest, Best privacy, Performance and Broadest catalog. No logging or training on the models I use restricts the ranking to clean routes. The Overflow billed at pills set how usage above a quota is priced, and Promo prices toggles the promo rates. The chart draws the winner's break-even curve, and you can pick one plan to chart it, or two to compare.

# Plan head-to-head: compare the plans themselves

The plan head-to-head asks a different question: of two subscription plans, which grants more monthly usage per dollar? There is no workload to set. Pick Plan A and Plan B and the tool scores every model they share.

The winner card names the plan with the better average value and the gap. The model list shows each plan's value per dollar, the plan with the higher value, and the percentage gap. Options sets the basis — value (quota per dollar, the default), quota (raw monthly quota) or peak (each plan's most generous model). The peak basis lists every model at each plan's peak, with the shared ones marked.

# How they fit together

The two tools link to each other, and both link to the cost calculators. From the finder you can open the head-to-head on the two plans you picked; from the head-to-head you can price a workload on the same two plans in the plan comparison tool. To weigh one plan against metered billing, open the plan break-even calculator.

# Shareable and experimental

Each tool writes its state to the URL, so a ranking or a comparison is shareable and bookmarkable. Both are marked Experimental: confirm every figure against the provider's own pricing before you rely on it. Plans, promos and quotas change over time, and the tools recompute on every page load from the same data as the main table.

# Next step

Rank your own mix in the plan finder, or open the plan head-to-head to judge two plans on what they grant. Then use the live table to filter every provider by context, latency and privacy.

# Frequently asked questions

# What is the plan finder?

It values one monthly model mix against every subscription plan and pay-as-you-go gateway, ranks them by monthly cost and marks the cheapest.

# What is the plan head-to-head?

It compares two subscription plans model by model on the monthly usage each grants per dollar, with no workload to set.

# Which should I use?

Use the finder to search the whole field on your own workload. Use the head-to-head to judge two plans on what they grant, independent of your usage.

# Are they shareable?

Yes. Each tool keeps its inputs in the URL and the Share button copies the link.