Introducing ModelOptix: The Independent AI Model Advisor
Introducing ModelOptix: The Independent AI Model Advisor
Date: January 18, 2026 Author: Jamie Watters Category: Product Announcement Read Time: 5 minutes
TL;DR
I'm building ModelOptix - an independent AI model advisor that helps developers stop overpaying for AI. The MVP beta launches in ~2 weeks. Join the waitlist →
The Problem: You're Probably Overpaying Right Now
Here's a scenario I've lived through multiple times:
You pick an AI model for your product. Maybe GPT-4 because it's the "safe choice." You integrate it, ship your feature, and move on to the next sprint.
Six months later, you're still using GPT-4. But here's what happened while you were busy building:
- GPT-4o launched at 50% of the cost with better performance
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet dropped prices and added new capabilities
- Gemini 1.5 Flash became viable for your use case at 1/10th the price
- Your specific workload could switch to Llama 3.3 70B and save 80%
You're quietly bleeding 20-40% in unnecessary AI costs every single month.
But here's the thing: it's not your fault.
The AI landscape is chaos. There are 400+ models now, with new ones launching weekly. Prices change constantly. Benchmarks get outdated in weeks. Every comparison site has hidden incentives - affiliate deals, volume routing fees, vendor partnerships.
You don't have time to stay on top of this. You're busy building your actual product.
Why Existing Solutions Don't Work
I tried all the alternatives before building ModelOptix:
Static Leaderboards (LMSys Arena, Artificial Analysis)
Problem: Generic benchmarks don't match YOUR use case. Plus, they're snapshots - outdated the moment you read them.
API Gateways (OpenRouter, Portkey, etc.)
Problem: Volume routing incentives. They make more money when you use expensive models or high-volume providers. The recommendations aren't for you - they're for their margins.
Vendor Sites (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)
Problem: Obviously biased. They'll never tell you when a competitor is better for your needs.
Manual Research
Problem: Takes hours every time. Gets outdated in weeks. Doesn't scale when you have multiple products/functions.
What's missing? Someone who monitors YOUR stack continuously and tells you when better options appear - with zero conflicts of interest.
The Solution: ModelOptix
ModelOptix is built around one core idea: structural independence.
No investors. No partners. No model provider relationships. No affiliate deals.
We make money when you subscribe - not when we steer you to specific models.
How It Works
- Add Your Portfolio: Tell us about your AI products and functions
- Define Your Use Cases: What matters to you? Cost? Speed? Accuracy? Context window?
- Get Personalized Recommendations: Not generic - matched to YOUR requirements
- Sanity Check Before Switching: Test recommendations with your actual prompts
- Track Savings Over Time: See ROI in real dollars
- Stay Optimized: Get alerts when prices change, new models launch, or trust scores update
What Makes Us Different
1. Structural Independence
- Zero conflicts of interest by design
- No way to be compromised
2. Radical Transparency
- Every recommendation shows its data sources and reasoning
- Confidence levels and freshness indicators on everything
- We show you what we see
3. Trust-First, Not Just Cost-First
- 8 trust dimensions for every model and provider
- Output safety, data privacy, training transparency
- You need to know if the model will produce harmful content or if the provider is training on your data
4. Proactive Monitoring
- We watch 400+ models so you don't have to
- Automatic opportunity detection
- Real-time alerts via email, Slack, Discord
5. Week 1 Payback Promise
- Goal: 80% of users save more than the subscription cost in the first week
- If you don't, we've failed
The Tech Stack
Building this as a solopreneur means being ruthlessly efficient:
- Frontend: Next.js 14 (App Router) + Tailwind + shadcn/ui
- Backend: Next.js API Routes (monolithic for speed)
- Database: Supabase (PostgreSQL + Auth + Real-time)
- Hosting: Railway (no platform timeouts for long-running Sanity Checks)
- CDN: Cloudflare (global edge caching)
- Rate Limiting: Upstash Redis (distributed limits)
- Payments: Stripe (trials + subscriptions)
- LLM Access: OpenRouter (for Sanity Check feature)
- Email: Resend (transactional emails)
- Analytics: PostHog (product analytics)
Total infrastructure cost: ~$5-45/month
Phase 1 (Foundation & Infrastructure) shipped this week:
- ✅ Complete database schema (17 tables, 601 lines SQL)
- ✅ Row Level Security policies (401 lines)
- ✅ Full auth system (Google, GitHub, Email/Password)
- ✅ App shell with dark mode
- ✅ Job infrastructure with distributed locking
- ✅ Seed script (31 models, 6 providers, 248 trust scores)
- ✅ CI/CD pipeline
What's Next: The Roadmap
Phase 2 (In Progress): Portfolio Management + Model Catalog
- Add/edit/delete products and functions
- Browse 400+ models with filtering
- Model comparison side-by-side
Phase 3 (Next 2 Weeks): Core Value Loop
- Recommendation engine with FitScore calculation
- Sanity Check (test before switching)
- Trust Dashboard
- Opportunity generation
Phase 4: Monetization
- Stripe subscriptions
- Trial flow (7 days, card upfront)
- Tier limits enforcement
Phase 5: Polish & Launch
- Admin tools
- Email templates
- Performance optimization
- Security review
- Public Beta Launch
Pricing (When We Launch)
| Tier | Monthly | Annual | What You Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 1 product, 1 function, 3 sanity checks/month |
| Solo | $13.45 | $9.95/mo | 3 products, 10 functions, 10 sanity checks, real-time alerts |
| Growth | $26.95 | $19.95/mo | 10 products, 30 functions, 30 sanity checks, webhooks |
| Pro | $40.45 | $29.95/mo | 25 products, 100 functions, 100 sanity checks, API access |
Trial: 7 days free, full access to Growth tier features Money-Back Guarantee: 30 days, no questions asked
Why I'm Building This
I'm a solopreneur building AI-powered products. Every 3-6 months, I waste hours researching "is there a better model now?"
I built ModelOptix because I desperately need it myself.
I've seen too many "unbiased" tools that quietly have affiliate deals or volume routing incentives. The only way to guarantee independence is to architect it into the business model from day one.
No investors means no pressure to compromise. No partners means no favors to return. No conflicts means I can tell you the truth.
Building in Public
I'm sharing the entire journey:
- Weekly progress updates on WIP.co and jamiewatters.work
- Technical deep dives on architecture decisions
- Wins and losses - the real story, not just the highlight reel
- Metrics and validation - what's working, what's not
This isn't just marketing transparency. It's how I operate.
Join the Beta
MVP beta launches in ~2 weeks (early February 2026).
I'm looking for early users who:
- Build AI-powered products
- Currently use 1+ LLM providers
- Care about cost optimization
- Want to see behind the curtain (trust transparency)
Early beta users get:
- Priority support
- Influence on roadmap
- Lifetime discount (details TBD)
Let's Talk
What's your biggest AI cost pain point?
- Overpaying but not sure by how much?
- Don't know when better options appear?
- Can't justify time to re-evaluate?
- Don't trust the "independent" comparison sites?
I want to hear about it. Reply on Twitter/X or email me directly.
Stay Updated
- Website: modeloptix.com
- Twitter/X: @modeloptix (coming soon)
- Progress: jamiewatters.work (build-in-public updates)
Building in public. Shipping fast. Zero compromises on independence.
Let's fix this together.
— Jamie
P.S. If you know someone who's building with AI and probably overpaying, send them this post. Help me reach people who need this.