AI Coding at Home Without Going Broke: A Practical Guide for Indie Developers
You can absolutely use AI to code at home without going broke. By combining free-tier cloud tools like GitHub Copilot Free with open-source local models running on Ollama and Continue.dev, indie developers can build a fully functional AI coding assistant for $0 per month. A one-time investment of $200–500 in a used GPU or an Apple Silicon Mac unlocks local models that match cloud services on most everyday coding tasks, saving you hundreds of dollars per year compared to subscriptions like Cursor Pro or Claude Team. ...