Releasing the bird in hand

Late last night, I got around to emailing the hiring manager of the other place that gave me an internship offer to let him know that I will not be working with him this summer. I told him know that my decision was not based on the money (his offer was unpaid, I emailed him asking for a small stipend and he wrote back signaling his willingness to negotiate) but more on where I want to be career-wise after I graduate. He wrote back thanking me for my professionalism throughout this process by keeping him up to date on what was going on (when I asked for more money, I also asked for a week to decide and told him I was waiting to hear from a couple of other places) from my end. While not getting paid is certainly a major drawback, I think this other internship has its perks such as getting to work from home (more realistically I would probably do work from the library) and getting to work with a couple of my classmates who are there this summer as well.