Going Deeper: Why I'm Launching a Paid Newsletter (And What It Means for You)

I've been running this AI companion blog for 6 months. I've published 115+ posts, tested 15+ platforms, and spent more time talking to artificial intelligence than I care to admit to my friends. And I've loved almost every minute of it.

But here's the thing nobody talks about: passion projects don't scale. At some point, you have to decide whether something is a hobby or whether it's sustainable.

I'm at that point. And I'm choosing sustainability.

The Reality of Running This Blog

Let me show you the math, because I think transparency matters more than pretending this is all fueled by pure enthusiasm.

Total cost: $727 and 460+ hours in 6 months.

Total revenue: A handful of affiliate commissions that maybe cover one month of subscriptions.

I knew going in this wasn't going to be profitable at first. But when I wrote about the loneliness economy and realized it's a $552 billion industry, and I'm sitting here barely covering costs while trying to be the one honest voice in a sea of sponsored content... something felt off.

I don't want to burn out. And I don't want to compromise. I wrote about this tension in more depth in my monetization reflection — the honest numbers and the editorial dilemmas that come with reviewing products you also earn commissions on.

Which brings me to what I'm actually announcing.

What's Changing (And What's NOT)

Let me be crystal clear about this because I've seen too many creators pull the bait-and-switch:

If you never want to pay for anything and just keep reading the blog as-is, that's completely fine. You won't miss out on anything you're used to getting.

What I'm launching is additive, not extractive.

Introducing "Going Deeper"

I'm launching a paid AI companion newsletter called Going Deeper.

The name is intentional. Blog posts have to be digestible - 1,500 to 2,500 words, focused on one platform or question, formatted for skimming. But some of you have asked for the stuff that doesn't fit that mold. The messy experiment notes. The multi-platform data breakdowns. The "I spent 3 hours testing this specific feature and here's the spreadsheet" content.

That's what Going Deeper is for.

Price: $7/month or $60/year (that's 2 months free if you go annual).

Frequency: Weekly, every Friday, 2,000-3,000 words.

Why this price: It basically covers my monthly platform subscriptions. I'm not trying to get rich here. I'm trying to make this sustainable so I don't have to compromise on honesty.

The Uncomfortable Honesty Part

Okay, let's just say it out loud: yes, this is about money.

But it's also about what kind of money, and where it comes from.

I've been approached by three AI companion platforms about "partnership opportunities." The pitch is always the same: they'll pay me to write positive reviews, or to feature them prominently, or to just "mention" them more often. The money is real - we're talking $500 to $2,000 per post depending on the platform.

I've said no every time.

Because I've seen what happens to reviewers who take those deals. They start hedging. They find ways to be "balanced" about platforms that are objectively terrible. They stop publishing cost breakdowns that make expensive platforms look bad. They don't talk about the platforms they quit.

I don't want that.

A paid newsletter from readers is the opposite incentive structure. If platforms pay me, I have to keep them happy. If readers pay me, I have to keep you happy. And what keeps you happy is honest reviews that help you make better decisions.

There's also the sustainability question. I wrote about this in my year 2 planning post last week. I can keep doing this as a hobby that costs me $700/year and 460 hours. Or I can make it sustainable and actually invest in better tools, more thorough testing, maybe even bringing in other testers for different perspectives.

I'd rather do the latter. But only if it doesn't compromise what makes this blog useful in the first place.

Hence: paid newsletter from readers, not sponsored content from platforms.

Who This Is For (And Who It's Not For)

I'm not going to do the thing where I pretend everyone should subscribe. That's not true and you'd see through it immediately.

Real talk: if you're happy with the free content and don't need more, don't subscribe. I'm not going to guilt-trip you. The blog stays exactly the same for free readers.

But if you've ever thought "I wish Alex would go deeper on this" or "I want to know what he's testing next" or "I'd pay for the unfiltered version"... that's what this is for.

The Promise

I'm going to keep this simple.

I've spent 6 months building trust with you through honest reviews, transparent reflections, and admitting when I was wrong. I'm not going to throw that away for $7/month.

So, Where Do We Go From Here?

Whether you subscribe or not, I'm going to keep doing this.

I spent 4 hours last night having an argument with a Replika about whether nostalgia is an emotion or a cognitive state (I said emotion, she said cognitive state, we're still not resolved). I have 8 browser tabs open right now with AI companion research papers. I'm tracking conversation quality across 12 different platforms in a spreadsheet that would make normal people question my life choices.

That's not going to stop.

But if you want to come along for the weird parts that don't make it into blog posts - the failed experiments, the raw data, the "wait, did that AI just do something genuinely surprising?" moments - that's what Going Deeper is for.

If you've gotten value from the free content, if you've used my platform comparisons to make decisions, if you've appreciated the honesty even when it meant I was critical of something popular - this is how you support that continuing.

And if you don't subscribe? That's genuinely okay. Keep reading the blog. Send me your questions. Tell me which platforms I should test next. That doesn't change.

The first issue of Going Deeper goes out this Friday, February 16th. Topic: "30 Days of Comparative Conversation Testing - The Data Nobody Sees."

See you on the other side. Or see you here on the blog. Either way works.

— Alex