Comment by hombre_fatal
13 days ago
Claude Code is only useable from a subscription.
Other than that, API + custom UI seems better since you're paying for the usage instead of competing with other flat-fee users for what seem to be overprovisioned resources (claude.ai was always throwing https 500 or 'sorry we're too busy' errors for me until I switched to API).
Not sure if it's cheaper though - I never checked.
It's insane how bad the first party chat apps are though. That's reason enough to use the API.
This was once true, I think, but it is no longer true. If you set an API key in your environment, Claude Code will work.
This did not when I tried it a few days ago but I also noticed it lets you use your API key after logging in through the web interface. I'll need to try again, really annoying that you can't just set $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and have it work
This is really possible. I installed Claude code many months ago, and never used it - but may have logged in in at that time. When sonnet 4 was released I tried it again, and started using it with just my API keys (I do not have a paid subscription).
> Claude Code is only useable from a subscription.
incorrect, you can pay per API call instead if you want.
TFA says:
> Pro and Max plan subscribers have access to use Claude Code directly in the terminal.
Claude Code can spend from your API balance, but you still need a subscription to authenticate with the @anthropic-ai/claude-code tool.
Or has that changed and it's not being communicated well here?
because it's a document in the "Max Plan" section of their website.
https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code explains you can pay per token or pay monthly.
they are definitely not doing a good job on the release - that page doesn't mention Pro including it, and it's not actually available on Pro yet for half a dozen posters on this thread.
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