Why cursors flat fee pricing could lead to its downfall

![rw-book-cover](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1200,h_600,c_fill,f_jpg,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf7fb35a-4314-41b7-92eb-20c3d2f24553_1272x1044.png) ## Metadata - Author: [[Darko]] - Full Title:: Why Cursor's Flat-Fee Pricing Could Lead to Its Downfall - Category:: #🗞️Articles - URL:: https://blog.kilocode.ai/p/why-cursors-flat-fee-pricing-will?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web - Read date:: [[2025-09-19]] ## Highlights > Instead, what they do is charge “per-usage”; any costs they incur go directly to the AI model API of your choice. Cline/OpenRouter’s monetization model is simple: Add a 5% markup on top of anything you pay your API provider. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k5ezezhrvfbvyg813w1cxjr8))