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I'm in the same boat as you right now so don't think you're alone. I was going to go AP, then I decided it's a waste of money compared to OS tuning. Now there are no good tuners in Utah and I'm leaning towards the AP and a surgeline e-tune. If we get some options in Utah I'll be back to straight OS tuning.

I had Accesport on my bugeye and open source tuning on my sti and I feel like the only difference is preferrence. I was a big fan of accessport because of the ease of use and the reliability of the OTS tunes that Cobb provides. To be 100% honest I still wish I had the AP, but it's not really a big deal either way.

Yeah, the lack of any dyno open source tuners here really sucks...

i just installed my ap on my car and honestly i think its worth every penny. i dont plan on tuning my own car and i like the convenience of being able to grab maps off cobbs website for free. i just did stage 1 and it does have a nice power gain. theres some used ones on nasioc right now

The maps are "free" after a $600 purchase...

Yes but you also get a logger and a scan tool and the ability to tinker with things such as idle speed and use it as a guage and have several maps handy at all times. In my opinion, it's worth the money. But I don't dabble in tuning, so it's an AP or paying someone to tune it.

^^^^ This

I'd suggest an AP, but of course not everyone will agree. Yes it is expensive and it doesn't bring out the FULL potential of the car. However, it is a safe tune also very convenient (ability to tweek things here and there, use as gauge). As of right now I am running a stage 1 map with a cobb shortram intake and I am happy with the power increase. It may not be that much but it is noticable and will suffice until I finish work on my jetta which will give me extra $ to buy a turboback. It's just a matter of opinion and if you want to dabble in tuning. If you can find a used one, I would highly suggest purchasing it.