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There’s only one way unlimited plans work: either the seller gets scammed, or the buyer does. When companies sell unlimited plans, they’re making a bet that th

by cedws 1y ago

There’s only one way unlimited plans work: either the seller gets scammed, or the buyer does. When companies sell unlimited plans, they’re making a bet that the average usage across all of those plans will be low enough to turn a profit. These people “abusing” the plan are well within their right to use the API as much as they want. It just didn’t fall into the parameters Anthropic had expected. LLM subscriptions need to go away, why can’t we just pay as we go? It’s the fairest way for everyone.

Aeolun 1y ago
> LLM subscriptions need to go away, why can’t we just pay as we go? It’s the fairest way for everyone. Because Claude Code is absolutely impossible to use without a subscription? I’m fine with being limited, but I’m not with having to pay more than $200/month Anybody that feels they’re not getting enough out of their subscription is welcome to use API instead.
- Aurornis 1y ago
  > Because Claude Code is absolutely impossible to use without a subscription? Claude Code accepts an API key. You do not need a subscription https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/settings#environment-variables https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/settings#envi...
  - Aeolun 1y ago
    I mean the way it works quickly leads to exorbitant costs. Subscription based pricing with limits keeps everyone honest.
redhale 1y ago
Nothing is stopping you from using the API directly, if you prefer to donate more money to Anthropic. I would not personally, as I can't spend thousands per month on an agentic tool. I hope they figure out limits that work. $100 / $200 is still a great deal. And the predictability means my company will pay for it.
- senko 1y ago
  I am using Claude daily, exclusively via the API (in Zed, added my own token) and spend a few bucks a day tops. Unlimited plans encourage wasting resources[0]. By actually paying for what you use, you can be a bit more economical and still get a lot of mileage out of it. $100/$200 is still a great deal (as you said), but it does make sense for actually-$2000 users to get charged differently. 0: In my hometown, (some) people have unlimited central heating (in winter) for a fixed fee. On warmer days, people are known to open windows instead of turning off the heating. It's free, who cares...
Aurornis 1y ago
> When companies sell unlimited plans, Anthropic never sold an unlimited plan It’s amazing that so many people think there was an unlimited plan. There was not an unlimited plan. > These people “abusing” the plan are well within their right to use the API as much as they want. It just didn’t fall into the parameters Anthropic had expected. Correct! And they did. And now Anthropic is changing those limits in a month. > LLM subscriptions need to go away, why can’t we just pay as we go? It’s the fairest way for everyone. This exists. You use the API. It has always been an option. Again, I’m confused about why there’s so much anger about something that already exists. The subscriptions are nice for people who want a consistent fee and they get the advantage of a better deal for occasional heavy usage.
- cedws 1y ago
  >Anthropic never sold an unlimited plan I'm told the $200/month plan was practically unlimited, I heard you could leave ~10 instances of Claude Code running 24/7. I will never pay for any of these subscriptions however so I haven't verified that. >And now Anthropic is changing those limits in a month. Which indicates the seller was being scammed. Now they're changing the limits so it swings back to being a scam for the user. >I’m confused about why there’s so much anger about something that already exists Yes but much LLM tooling requires a subscription. I'm not talking only about Anthropic/Claude Code. I can't use chatgpt.com using my own API key. Even though behind the scenes, if I had a subscription, it would be calling out to the exact same API.

by cedws 1y ago

Aeolun 1y ago

> LLM subscriptions need to go away, why can’t we just pay as we go? It’s the fairest way for everyone. Because Claude Code is absolutely impossible to use without a subscription? I’m fine with being limited, but I’m not with having to pay more than $200/month Anybody that feels they’re not getting enough out of their subscription is welcome to use API instead.

Aurornis 1y ago
> Because Claude Code is absolutely impossible to use without a subscription? Claude Code accepts an API key. You do not need a subscription https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/settings#environment-variables https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/settings#envi...
- Aeolun 1y ago
  I mean the way it works quickly leads to exorbitant costs. Subscription based pricing with limits keeps everyone honest.

redhale 1y ago

Nothing is stopping you from using the API directly, if you prefer to donate more money to Anthropic. I would not personally, as I can't spend thousands per month on an agentic tool. I hope they figure out limits that work. $100 / $200 is still a great deal. And the predictability means my company will pay for it.

senko 1y ago
I am using Claude daily, exclusively via the API (in Zed, added my own token) and spend a few bucks a day tops. Unlimited plans encourage wasting resources[0]. By actually paying for what you use, you can be a bit more economical and still get a lot of mileage out of it. $100/$200 is still a great deal (as you said), but it does make sense for actually-$2000 users to get charged differently. 0: In my hometown, (some) people have unlimited central heating (in winter) for a fixed fee. On warmer days, people are known to open windows instead of turning off the heating. It's free, who cares...

Aurornis 1y ago

> When companies sell unlimited plans, Anthropic never sold an unlimited plan It’s amazing that so many people think there was an unlimited plan. There was not an unlimited plan. > These people “abusing” the plan are well within their right to use the API as much as they want. It just didn’t fall into the parameters Anthropic had expected. Correct! And they did. And now Anthropic is changing those limits in a month. > LLM subscriptions need to go away, why can’t we just pay as we go? It’s the fairest way for everyone. This exists. You use the API. It has always been an option. Again, I’m confused about why there’s so much anger about something that already exists. The subscriptions are nice for people who want a consistent fee and they get the advantage of a better deal for occasional heavy usage.

cedws 1y ago
>Anthropic never sold an unlimited plan I'm told the $200/month plan was practically unlimited, I heard you could leave ~10 instances of Claude Code running 24/7. I will never pay for any of these subscriptions however so I haven't verified that. >And now Anthropic is changing those limits in a month. Which indicates the seller was being scammed. Now they're changing the limits so it swings back to being a scam for the user. >I’m confused about why there’s so much anger about something that already exists Yes but much LLM tooling requires a subscription. I'm not talking only about Anthropic/Claude Code. I can't use chatgpt.com using my own API key. Even though behind the scenes, if I had a subscription, it would be calling out to the exact same API.