Anthropic Cracks Down On OpenClaw, Forcing Claude Code Users To Pay Extra

Anthropic announced a change in its pricing structure for Claude Code users who utilize third-party tools like OpenClaw.

Subscribers will now need to pay separately for the use of these tools, moving away from the previous model in which such usage was covered by subscription limits. The change began on April 4 and requires subscribers to adopt a pay-as-you-go model for third-party tool usage.

"We've been working hard to meet the increase in demand for Claude, and our subscriptions weren't built for the usage patterns of these third-party tools. Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully, and we are prioritizing our customers using our products and API," Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code at Anthropic, wrote in a post on X.

Subscribers are being offered a one-time credit equal to the current monthly plan cost, with additional discounted usage bundles available.

Cherny added, "We want to be intentional in managing our growth to continue to serve our customers sustainably long-term. This change is a step toward that."

Many users of the product commented negatively under Cherny's post, saying that they would be canceling their subscriptions.

One user noted that this move "directly fuels" Anthropic's competition and that the decision will "actively hurt a lot of people."

"I know it s**ks. Fundamentally, engineering is about tradeoffs, and one of the things we do to serve a lot of customers is optimize the way subscriptions work to serve as many people as possible with the best model. Third-party services are not optimized in this way, so it's really hard for us to do sustainably," Cherny responded.

Another user commented, "Whatever the excuse, this was a catastrophic signal about Anthropic's real stance toward open tools and power users. You had the dev community on your side. Instead of consolidating that lead, you just revived OpenAI."

Anthropic also noted that Claude subscriptions that use third-party tools violate its terms of service. Cherny noted that while the company is offering full refunds for subscribers, the aim is to be more explicit about what is supported under the subscription.

Cherny added that the decision stems from engineering constraints rather than a lack of support for open source initiatives.

The announcement follows the departure of OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger, who joined Anthropic's competitor OpenAI in February to focus on building the next generation of personal agents.

"While I think what Anthropic does is sad for the ecosystem, I wanna give Boris credit for doing what he can to soften the fallout. Today's release will include some fixes for better cache use, to lower cost for API users," Steinberger commented on the decision.

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