Feature costs near zero — will apps become bloated?
AI tools are making it almost free to add new features to software. This post raises the concern that cheap development could lead to feature-bloated apps stuffed with things users never asked for. Low cost to build does not automatically mean better products.
Traditionally, adding a feature required real developer time and money, which acted as a natural filter — teams had to ask whether a feature was truly worth it. As AI coding assistants become more powerful, that friction is disappearing, and features can be shipped with a fraction of the previous effort.
The flip side is that without cost as a forcing function, products may accumulate half-baked features that clutter the experience. The post suggests that the skill that will matter most going forward is not the ability to code, but the judgment to decide what to build in the first place — choosing restraint over abundance.
Key points
- AI coding tools have drastically cut the time and effort needed to add software features.
- When adding features is nearly free, there is less incentive to question whether each feature is actually needed.
- Too many features can make an app slow, confusing, and hard to maintain — known as feature bloat.
- Good product judgment — knowing what NOT to build — becomes the scarce and valuable skill.
- For AI agent builders, this is a reminder to validate necessity before adding new capabilities.
Quick term guide
- AI tools
- Software that can help create text, code, images, or other work.
- build
- A chosen set of in-game abilities or items a player equips for their character.
- friction
- Anything that makes it harder or slower for a user to start using a product.
- skill
- A reusable set of instructions for handling a task.
- FIR
- A First Information Report — the official complaint filed with police in India that kicks off a criminal investigation.
- AI coding tool
- Software that uses AI to help write, edit, or explain code.
- feature bloat
- When software has so many unnecessary features that it becomes slow, confusing, or hard to use.
- AI agent
- An AI program that can inspect information and suggest what to do next.