Claude Code subscribers will soon pay more to use Anthropic’s coding assistant with third-party tools like OpenClaw. Starting today, April 4, subscriptions can no longer be used for these external platforms. Users must instead adopt a separate pay-as-you-go plan.
Anthropic states this policy, beginning with OpenClaw, will soon apply to all third-party tools. The company says its subscriptions weren’t designed for the usage patterns these tools create, and the change is needed for sustainable growth.
This follows OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joining rival OpenAI. Steinberger claims he tried to negotiate with Anthropic, only delaying the pricing change by a week. He suggested the timing, after Anthropic integrated similar features, was intentional.
Anthropic’s Boris Cherny countered that the team supports open source, but the move is due to engineering constraints. The company is offering full refunds to affected subscribers, acknowledging the policy wasn’t clear.
Meanwhile, OpenAI recently shut down its Sora video model to reallocate computing resources, focusing its efforts on attracting software engineers and enterprises.