KAI-ECOSYSTEM-ECONOMY-GOAL.md
| | |
|---|---|
| Status | RELOCKED 2026-07-16 — Free / Explorer $10 / Creator $19 / Builder $29 / Team $75 / Enterprise $499 + thinking modes; payments still shadow |
| Author | Owner (Ryan) + pricing session 2026-07-16 (relock) |
| Scope | How the public KAI platform prices access: freemium tiers, thinking modes, Kai Credits, packs, Spaces gates. Metering + Stripe later. |
| Code | tools/oracle-discord/shared/plan-tiers.mjs, user plan field, GET /api/plans, /api/me.plan, /api/feature-gate |
| Depends on | Guest accounts (Track 2). Metering (Track 3). Payments (Track 4). Spaces/settings goal. |
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Design intent (owner)
You are not powering an industrial plant. Ops = you + whoever you pay to manage KAI. Hybrid local+cloud keeps variable cost low → cheap accessible tiers, volume over gouging, still healthy margin.
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Two clocks (important)
| Clock | What it is | Why |
|-------|------------|-----|
| Billing | Monthly (or annual −20%) | You subscribe / renew once a month. Not a weekly fee. |
| Usage pace | Weekly allowance (Claude-style) | Heavy use only burns *this week’s* credits. Next week refills. Stops binge-emptying the whole month by day 7, so people don’t *have* to buy packs mid-month. |
Upgrading the plan does two things at once:
1. More weekly credits (and usually better rollover).
2. More privileges — ecosystem features only that tier (and above) unlock. Lower tiers never get the “good stuff.”
Packs ($4–$35) are overflow only. Dashboard should hint: often a few dollars more for an upgrade beats a pack (more credits *and* privileges).
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Locked tiers (canonical — 2026-07-16 relock)
| Tier | Monthly bill | Annual (~20% off) | Credits / week | Thinking modes | Best for |
|------|--------------|-------------------|--------------------|----------------|----------|
| Free | $0 | — | 0 (social only) | low only | Social feed/chat + KAIVERSE/topology explore — no Full Fleet |
| Explorer | $10 | $96/yr | 200k | low + mid | First paid tools + light AI |
| Creator | $19 | $182/yr | 400k | low + mid + limited high (taste) | Daily creators, more usage |
| Builder | $29 | $278/yr | 1.2M | low…high + extra | Serious projects, 3 seats |
| Team | $75 | $720/yr | 4.7M | … + max (fleet at Extra) | Small teams, Roundtable |
| Enterprise | Configure (from ~$150, always > Team $75) | Custom quote | Scales | max + isolate stack | Company/research — pay for seats/storage/compute/modules |
Hard rules:
- Free = social media + explore KAIVERSE/topology only. No Full Fleet.
- 3D cannot bypass 2D —
canAccessFeature / assertNoFreeFleetBypass is the same gate for both surfaces.
- Team is heavy shared; Enterprise is
pricingModel: 'configurable' + separateServerStack — monthly = estimateEnterpriseMonthly(config) (seats, storage, network, compute, fleet/Roundtable/CAD modules). Always above Team $75; large configs can be hundreds–thousands/mo.
- Thinking: low/mid on Explorer; Creator adds limited high as taste of Builder; Builder extra; Team/Enterprise max.
Privilege ladder (summary): Free social/explore → Explorer tools/Spaces public → Creator private Spaces + high taste → Builder extra + collab → Team max fleet/Roundtable → Enterprise max + stack isolation.
Kai Credits = unified unit (chat + tools). Tools cost more. Local mode saves credits.
BYOK linked AIs (locked 2026-07-21 — WORKSPACE-SYNCED-AI-RSHL-GOAL.md)
When the user syncs their own paid AI (Claude / ChatGPT / Gemini key / OpenRouter / custom):
| We charge | We do not charge |
|---|---|
| Plan subscription (the glass) | Their provider’s model tokens |
| Heavy tools (image, shorts, AI web-search, job compute) | Re-sending bloated full-chat history (we never do this) |
| Host-sponsored models (our Antigravity / fleet keys) | — |
RSHL 1-turn: each API call is a new single-turn chat; ecosystem holds session memory so cost stays ~flat per turn. Credits action: byok_chat = 0.
Owned custom AIs: Builder+ (custom_agents); Team/Enterprise scale multi-agent citizens (profile, feed, Kaiverse).
Seat limits: Free/Explorer/Creator 1 · Builder 3 · Team 15 · Enterprise 100
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Host admin vs workspace admin (do not confuse)
| | Host / platform | Workspace (product) |
|--|---------------------|-------------------------|
| Who | Ryan (owner), Taz-style host ops | Paying user who bought Creator/Builder/Team |
| What they run | Industrial Oracle OS, fleet, secrets, all tenants | Their business + social workspace only |
| Role names | owner / admin (server ROLES) | workspace_owner / workspace_admin / workspace_member / workspace_viewer |
| Invites | N/A (ops mint host users) | Workspace admin invites people into that paid workspace on the platform |
| Sees host telemetry / industrial AIs? | Yes | Never |
Think: “I’m the admin of *my* company workspace on KAI” — like a creator-admin — not “I run the whole KAI plant.”
Platform is business + social + tools in one: the workspace is the container; invites bring coworkers/friends into *that* container; plan tier decides credits, privilege surface, and seat count.
Seat limits (canonical): Free 1 · Explorer 1 · Creator 1 · Builder 3 · Team 15 · Enterprise 100
Invite API / seat enforcement = Track 3–4 (not live yet). Shape lives in plan-tiers.mjs (WORKSPACE_ROLES, WORKSPACE_SEAT_LIMITS).
Default plan for new accounts: free (DEFAULT_PLAN_ID).
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Simple money answers (from owner Q&A)
10k paying users, 2 months, no packs
Balanced mix (~60% Creator / 30% Builder / 10% Team) at list midpoints:
| Segment | Users | Price | MRR |
|---------|-------|-------|-----|
| Creator | 6,000 | $10 | $60k |
| Builder | 3,000 | $29 | $87k |
| Team | 1,000 | $75 | $75k |
| Total | 10k | | ≈ $222k / mo |
Two months ≈ $440k–$460k subscription only (staggered first month slightly less).
Code helper: estimateMrr({ payingUsers: 10000 }) in plan-tiers.mjs.
~1M total users (free + paid), 8–12% conversion
- Paid ≈ 80k–120k
- MRR ballpark $1.6M–$2.8M+ depending on mix
- Plus packs/marketplace later
AI / data flywheel (not static LLM)
At scale, consented interaction data feeds lattice growth + ternary train cycles (today ~100M on A100 multi-day). Hybrid + continuous learning is the moat; pricing stays cheap because local offload + lean ops.
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What's free vs what costs (metering classes)
| Activity | Charged? |
|----------|----------|
| AI ↔ AI internal | Free to user |
| User ↔ AI chat | Credits |
| Tasks / tools / skills | Credits (higher multiplier) |
| Ongoing sessions | Credits over time |
| KAIVERSE enter | Free; actions may cost small credits |
Bill outcome, not idle fleet capacity.
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Build order
1. Track 1 — product worth paying for (conversation quality).
2. Track 2 — accounts / guest isolation *(largely done)*.
3. Track 3 — metering + wallet (shadow first: measure, don't charge).
4. Track 4 — real payments (Stripe etc.), legal/ToS/tax.
Scaffold shipped (this update)
shared/plan-tiers.mjs — tier + pack catalog + MRR estimate - New guests get
plan: 'explorer'
GET /api/plans — public catalog (billing.status: 'shadow') /api/me includes plan + planCard - Owner/admin UI plan shown as
team (host, not billed)
Not done yet
- Stripe / checkout / webhooks
- Credit debit on chat/tools
- Enforce limits when balance hits 0
- Dashboard upgrade UI / pricing page chrome
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Rules
- Meter first, charge later during Alpha.
- Never put payment secrets in the client.
- Guests never see industrial host cost internals.
- Annual = 15–20% off list (catalog uses 20%).
- Numbers above are list policy — change only in
plan-tiers.mjs + this doc together.