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Do people actually get value out of the monthly plans? I've been using API access to both Claude and OAI and end up paying less, while I keep hearing about peop

Do people actually get value out of the monthly plans? I've been using API access to both Claude and OAI and end up paying less, while I keep hearing about people being rate limited with lower usage. Am I missing something here? The only one that made sense to me was Cursor, but that comes with extra features and model switching.

hombre_fatal 1y 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.
- bananapub 1y ago
  > Claude Code is only useable from a subscription. incorrect, you can pay per API call instead if you want.
  - hombre_fatal 1y ago
    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?
    - bananapub 1y ago
      because it's a document in the "Max Plan" section of their website. https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code 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.
      - hombre_fatal 1y ago
        Hmm, I stand corrected. I remember needing a subscription just to authenticate with the Claude Code tool (at least when it came out) even though it spends from my API balance kinda felt like a scam. I wonder how the pricing works out between using Opus in Claude Code pay-as-you-go vs the $100/mo plan. All I remember is easily spending $25 in a Claude Code session if I let the context stay too big. So maybe the sub isn't a bad deal.
- nmcfarl 1y ago
  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.
  - dkdcio 1y ago
    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
    - nmcfarl 1y ago
      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).
CuriouslyC 1y ago
I use APIs for coding with Aider (gemini 2.5 pro is my preferred model), but still subscribe to ChatGPT plus because being able to use better models like O3 and 4.1 in chat, plus unlimited image generation, Realtime voice/video, Deep Research and Codex (as a backup agent while I'm manually driving Aider) ends up being worth the price.

hombre_fatal 1y 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.

bananapub 1y ago
> Claude Code is only useable from a subscription. incorrect, you can pay per API call instead if you want.
- hombre_fatal 1y ago
  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?
  - bananapub 1y ago
    because it's a document in the "Max Plan" section of their website. https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code 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.
    - hombre_fatal 1y ago
      Hmm, I stand corrected. I remember needing a subscription just to authenticate with the Claude Code tool (at least when it came out) even though it spends from my API balance kinda felt like a scam. I wonder how the pricing works out between using Opus in Claude Code pay-as-you-go vs the $100/mo plan. All I remember is easily spending $25 in a Claude Code session if I let the context stay too big. So maybe the sub isn't a bad deal.
nmcfarl 1y ago
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.
- dkdcio 1y ago
  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
  - nmcfarl 1y ago
    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).

CuriouslyC 1y ago

I use APIs for coding with Aider (gemini 2.5 pro is my preferred model), but still subscribe to ChatGPT plus because being able to use better models like O3 and 4.1 in chat, plus unlimited image generation, Realtime voice/video, Deep Research and Codex (as a backup agent while I'm manually driving Aider) ends up being worth the price.