Monetizing AI in Apps with Lou Zell from AIProxy

In this episode of the SubHub Podcast, we sit down with Lou Zell, co-founder of AIProxy, to explore how developers are harnessing AI APIs to build smarter, more profitable apps. Lou shares his insights into the shifting landscape of AI integration, which APIs developers are loving right now, and how tools like AIProxy are enabling powerful functionality with minimal friction. Whether you’re a solo indie dev or part of a larger team, this conversation is packed with practical takeaways on app monetization, technical architecture, and future-forward development strategies.

We also dive into the current limitations of building agentic AI apps on iOS, and why deeper integration with reasoning and vision models remains an untapped opportunity. Tune in for a look at where AI app development is headed and how you can stay ahead.

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Takeaways

• Most popular AI APIs among developers include OpenAI, Replicate, and Fal—with Azure’s OpenAI APIs gaining traction due to free Microsoft credits.
• Anthropic models are widely used by web developers but are surprisingly rare in iOS apps.
• Underutilized APIs like Google Gemini’s vision model and tool-calling interfaces represent missed opportunities for richer integrations.
• AI development ranges from simple chat wrappers to complex agentic workflows—most developers stop short of the latter.
• iOS platform constraints like privacy and sandboxing hinder agentic AI apps.
• AIProxy offers a unified Swift SDK and backend protections to streamline AI integration.
• Pairing AIProxy with Adapty enables developers to monetize AI features via in-app purchases and enforce rate limits by tier.

Links

AIProxy - add AI to your iOS app

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