Building Cost-Effective AI Workflows: Open Source + Paid Tools Done Right (opens in new tab)

You want to use AI in your stack, but you're not trying to blow $500/month on subscriptions. Real talk: you don't have to pick between "free tier forever" and "expensive as hell." You just need to be smart about which tools do what. The Problem Everyone Ignores Most developers try one of two things: Stick everything on OpenAI/Claude and watch the bill climb Go full open-source and get frustrated debugging Ollama at 2 AM The sweet spot? Use the right tool for the job. My Current Stack (And Why...