I Replaced Opus 4.7 With a Free Chinese AI (INSANE)

Income stream surfers| 00:06:47|May 17, 2026
Chapters14
The host introduces a series testing latest LLMs and models to find a strong alternative to Claude's subscription, starting the exploration with MiMo 2.5 Pro inside Claude Code.

A creator tests a free Chinese AI setup (Mimo with Claude code, Astro Builder, and Superpowers) claiming near-Opus 4.7 quality at zero cost.

Summary

Income stream surfers’ host runs a rapid-fire evaluation of free AI tooling as an alternative to expensive Claude match subscriptions. He demos Mimo inside Claude code, paired with the Astro Builder skill and the Superpowers plugin, all accessible via a zero-cost setup. The video walks through enabling Xiaomi as the model, adding credits, and verifying via OpenRouter logs. He showcases how the Astro Builder skill generates premium-like websites with lead gen capabilities, and he tests a live form submission to confirm database connectivity with Turso. A key part of the experiment is the claim that combined tools deliver image generation and page quality that “is close to Opus 4.7 levels.” The host is transparent about minor hiccups (like a Turso connection issue) and fixes them on the fly. He also promotes his own Harbor SEO.AI tool, highlighting a free-form writer and performance metrics from his past work. The overall takeaway is that free configurations can rival paid AI stacks for certain tasks, with caveats about optimization and reliability.

Key Takeaways

  • Using Xiaomi as the model in Claude code can be tested through OpenRouter logs to confirm model selection (e.g., Xiaomi 3:36 p.m.).
  • Astro Builder skill creates premium website scaffolding including database, lead gen, and routing, usable with free models via OpenRouter prompts.
  • Superpowers plugin plus Mimo V2.5 Pro enable high-quality outputs and image generation within a free workflow rivaling paid options.
  • A live admin and form workflow can be demonstrated, including login, inquiry submission, and basic Turso data connectivity (with occasional CLI disconnects).
  • The host claims the combined setup approaches Opus 4.7 levels of quality, framing it as a practical, low-cost alternative to expensive AI subs.
  • The video includes a plug for Harbor SEO.AI, emphasizing a free form writer and historical performance metrics (e.g., 571 pages published, 326,000 impressions).

Who Is This For?

Essential viewing for developers and creators exploring free AI stacks to replace expensive Claude subscriptions, especially those building AI-powered marketing sites and lead-gen pages.

Notable Quotes

"Okay, guys, so this is Mimo Claude code inside, sorry, using Astro builder skill, right?"
Introductory setup showing the core components being used.
"Look at the quality here. This generates images for you, right? It’s just absurd quality."
Impressed reaction to image generation quality from the setup.
"A complete build with a Chinese AI is now possible, which I didn’t think I’d be saying for a long time."
Key claim about achieving a high-quality output with the free stack.
"The really cool thing about this is if we just do this Mhm. We just fill in the form here. Help me. And send inquiry. See if this works."
Demonstrating a live form submission to test workflow and Turso integration.
"Not only that, the quality, I’m not going to lie, guys. The Super Powers plugin plus the Astro Builder skill plus the ability to generate images, this is close to Opus 4.7 levels."
Direct comparison to Opus 4.7 level quality.

Questions This Video Answers

  • How can I replace Claude subscription with free AI tools for building marketing sites?
  • What is the Astro Builder skill and how does it integrate with Mimo and Claude code?
  • Can I achieve Opus 4.7 level results with free AI stacks for image generation and web pages?
  • How do you test model choice in Claude code using OpenRouter logs?
  • What are the best free models for coding tasks inside Claude code (e.g., Owl Alpha, Nematic 3 Nano)?
Mimo AIClaude codeAstro Builder skillSuperpowers pluginOpenRouterXiaomi modelTurso databaseLead generationAI-generated websitesOpus 4.7 comparison
Full Transcript
Okay, guys. So, continuing on with my series where I do a test of all of the latest LLMs and all of the latest models to try and find what is the best alternative to a $200 Claude match subscription. In today's video, we're going to be testing out Mimo inside Claude code, but with a couple of differences. So, this is Mimo Claude code inside, sorry, uh using Astro builder skill, right? This is a completely free skill that you can get in the description of this video. It's something I've been working on for a while now. We're also going to be using superpowers, right? So, overall, this is what we're going to be doing today. We're going to be doing superpowers. We're going to be using superpowers, Mimo V 2.5 Pro, and then also, uh basically, going to be using the Astro builder skill, which, like I said, you can get in the description of this video. So, if you don't know what this Astro builder skill is, I made this 2 months ago or so. Basically, all this is is a fairly simple skill that will generate premium websites for you using any model, right? It uses Astro, it has a database, lead gen, everything you need for a web website. You can easily add this to your own directories using these commands right here. I'll leave a link to this GitHub in the description. I made this, right? So, completely free, open source, do whatever you want with it, as usual. It's fairly popular, 15 stars for four forks isn't bad, really, for something that doesn't haven't really been using that much, to be honest with you. But, I thought today, because the Mimo test yesterday was so effective, or 2 days ago, it was so good, I thought today we'll do another test using Mimo, but this time using the superpower skill and the Astro builder skill. So, let's have a little look at what this actually looks like. So, first of all, I set, um Mimo to use, sorry, I set Claude code to use Mimo, right? So, you see here, model is set to Xiaomi. We can actually test this by going to OpenRouter and going up here, going to logs, and we should see Xiaomi 3:36 p.m. There we go. Uh it doesn't actually say it's inside Claude code, I don't think, but I know it's inside Claude code. So, yeah, it is working. It's running. Beautiful. Okay, so we actually need more tokens, so let's just grab some more tokens here. Just pause it. Go to credits and just add 10 bucks more. Okay, so I just grabbed 10 bucks worth of credits. I'll just say sorry, continue. Uh do that again. Okay, guys, so this is the plan that it came out with. You can see right here. Really, really nice detail. Um it's going to do an admin page and everything. Um but yeah, this is the skill. Basically, this is how it works. And yeah, let's just say okay, do it. So, it's 15:41 right now. Let's see how much this costs and how long this takes. By the way, guys, a quick tip for anyone that is wondering how to use Claude code completely for free. What you can do is you can go to prompt pricing here on OpenRouter and put this all the way down to free. Any one of these models can be used for free today inside Claude code, right? So, for example, Owl Alpha most likely is a pretty good model, right? Nematic 3 Nano, a lot of people talk about this model as being decent. Deep Seek V4 Flash Free, you can use as of today for free inside Claude code, right? So, it is actually possible to use Claude code completely for free if you use one of these models. Gemma 431B has a pretty good reputation as being a decent coding model as well. So, literally just scroll through these. Nematic 3 Super. Any of these you can use completely for free inside Claude code, thus giving you Claude code for free. So, that's where the free from this video comes from. Okay, guys, so this is the final result. I just want to go through this quickly just to show you how actually insane this is. Remember, this is a Chinese model built by a phone company. Look at the quality here. So, this generates images for you, right? It's just absurd quality. I mean, I can't believe how good this actually is, right? Athlone Road based go away wide. That's not actually Athlone Road, but we don't talk about that. We don't tell We don't tell people that. Let's go to services here, right? Bang bang emergency plumbing. So, you can read more about emergency plumbing. This is all trying to rank on Google for these keywords. This is a little bit messed up, but that's fine. That's just an easy fix, right? Looks like the uh formatting hasn't been added to these pages, but that's fine. The really cool thing about this is if we just do this Mhm. We just fill in the form here. Help me. And send inquiry. See if this works. Okay, that didn't work. Uh it looks like it didn't set the Turso data database. So, just one second. Hey guys, so the issue was it wasn't connected to uh Turso um just because basically yeah, my CLI had disconnected. So, let's try this now. This should just work. That was very simple to fix, by the way. Um Like I I I basically did nothing. I just needed to log in. There we go. Thank you. We'll be in touch. Okay, and then we go to admin login. Um should already be logged in. Let's see here. There we go. Bang. Look at that. So, a complete build with a Chinese AI is now possible, which I didn't think I'd be saying for a long time. Not only that, the quality. I'm not going to lie, guys. The Super Powers plugin plus the Astro Builder skill plus the ability to generate images, this is close to Opus 4.7 levels. I know it's a meme at this point saying Opus 4.7 levels, but this is genuinely close to Opus 4.7. Well, that being said, guys, I'll leave the video there. Just a quick word from our sponsor, me. This is Harbor SEO.AI. I read every single piece of feedback on the bottom right here. If you give me a piece of feedback, I will implement that feedback as soon as possible. The writer has got better and better. We just launched the free form writer, which people are absolutely loving. You can generate insanely good content that is directed specific to your website or your client website, depending on what you're working on. Go and check that out, guys. You give this a nice, really in-depth prompt here, and it will create exactly what you're looking for 10 times out of 10. Also, like this is what I'm particularly proud of, guys. 571 pages published. 326,000 impressions, 2,700 clicks. You're missing out on clicks, guys. Go and check out Harbor. There's a link in the description and in the pinned comment. It is the best SEO tool for the price, 29 euros, and you get a hell of a lot of features, guys. Go and check it out today. Thank you so much for watching. If you are watching all the way to the end of the video, you're an absolute legend, and I'll see you very, very soon. With some more content. Peace out.

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