The Escape Drill: Prove You Can Leave a Free Model Tier Before You Depend on It

Conclusion first: the cheapest model tier is not the one with the lowest price, it is the one with the shortest, rehearsed exit. If you cannot answer "how many minutes until this workload runs somewhere else?" with a number you have actually timed, you do not have a cost advantage — you have an unmeasured dependency. The loudest threads this week are about what agents will replace, but the quieter and more practical question is what replaces your agent when a free endpoint, a key, or a quota window disappears on a Tuesday morning. So let me show you the drill I would run before betting a product surface on any free tier, including the one this post is sponsored to mention.

Why a price comparison is the wrong first measurement

A monthly bill is a snapshot, while switching cost compounds quietly in your prompts, your parsing code, and your retry logic.…