I can't really do anything with the recommendation you're making.

The recommendation you made worked from your personal preference as an axiom.

The fact is that the APIs in search cost vastly more than the LLMs used in quick answer / quick assistant.

If you use the expensive AI stuff (research assistant or the big tier 1 models) that's expensive. But also: it is in a separate subscription, the $25/month one.

We used not to give any access to the assistant at the $5 and $10 tier, now we do, it's a free upgrades for users.