Here's every AI subscription I paid for in 2025 - and which ones I'm taking into 2026

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• My 2025 AI spend hit $1,665 across tools and upgrades.
• $300 in agentic coding tools did years of coding in days.
• Adobe was half the bill, then I cut it down drastically.

We're approaching the end of 2025, which also marks the conclusion of the third year of the new wave of generative AI. At the end of 2024, we thought we had a handle on how much AI would change us, but 2025 took the game to an entirely new level with the emergence of agentic AI.

Leading the pack has been the rise in agentic coding tools. These tools, such as Gemini Jules, Claude Code, and OpenAI Codex, are capable of writing entire programs and products. I put both Codex and Claude Code to the test, creating ...