Anthropic is increasing costs for Claude Code subscribers who use its coding assistant with OpenClaw and other external tools.
An email to customers, shared on Hacker News, reveals that from April 4 at noon Pacific, subscribers’ existing Claude subscription allowances will no longer cover usage with third-party integrations like OpenClaw. Users will now incur additional charges via a separate pay-as-you-go billing model.
Anthropic stated that although this policy begins with OpenClaw today, it extends to all third-party interfaces and will be progressively implemented for others.
Boris Cherny, Anthropic’s head of Claude Code, explained on X that the current subscription model wasn’t designed for the usage behaviors associated with these third-party tools. He added that Anthropic aims to strategically manage its expansion to ensure ongoing sustainable service for its customers.
This announcement follows OpenClaw’s creator, Peter Steinberger, revealing his move to Anthropic competitor OpenAI. OpenClaw, meanwhile, will persist as an open-source initiative with OpenAI’s backing.
Steinberger shared that he and OpenClaw board member Dave Morin attempted to persuade Anthropic, but could only secure a one-week postponement of the price hike.
Steinberger commented on the suspicious timing, noting,
“It’s peculiar how the timings align: first, they incorporate popular features into their proprietary system, then they restrict access for open source projects.”
Cherny, conversely, asserted that the Claude Code team strongly supports open source, mentioning that he personally submitted several pull requests to enhance prompt cache efficiency specifically for OpenClaw.
He clarified that the change is primarily due to “engineering constraints,” and noted that Anthropic is providing complete refunds to subscribers. Cherny explained,
“We understand that not everyone was aware this wasn’t supported, and this action aims to make it unequivocally clear.”
Concurrently, OpenAI recently discontinued its Sora application and video generation models, reportedly to conserve computing power. This move is part of a larger strategy to concentrate on attracting software engineers and businesses, who are increasingly utilizing tools such as Claude Code.