Open models are ~6mo behind current closed SotA, and are hosted by many parties that have no incentive to subsidise the cost, so they're making some profit already. The biggest thing in our favor is that there isn't just oAI. There are 3 main closed providers, and plenty of open models released every cycle. Even if they're gonna raise the prices, there's enough competition so that eventually it levels off at a point. I think that point will still be "affordable". Certainly cheaper than a full time dev, even outsourced.