3 ms·

But why does it matter which program consumes the tokens?

• esafak 9mo ago
  They must be getting something out of it, because we sure aren't.
  • gardnr 9mo ago
    Cory Doctorow has a word for this..
    • esafak 9mo ago
      They think their position is strong enough to lock users in. I'm not so sure.
    • whatsupdog 9mo ago
      It's enshittification - for those who didn't know.
• KingMob 9mo ago
  Presumably because their flat rate pricing is based off their ability to manage token use via their first-party tools. A third-party tool may be less efficient in saving costs (I have heard many of them don't hit Anthropic LLMs' caches as well). Would you be willing to pay more for your plan, to subsidize the use of third-party tools by others? --- Note, afaik, Anthropic hasn't come out and said this is the reason, but it fits. Or, it could also just be that the LLM companies view their agent tools as the real moat, since the models themselves aren't.
  • DrammBA 9mo ago
    But wouldn't a less efficient tool simply consume your 5-hour/weekly quota faster? There's gotta be something else, probably telemetry, maybe hoping people switch to API without fighting, or simply vendor lock-in.
    • KingMob 9mo ago
      > But wouldn't a less efficient tool simply consume your 5-hour/weekly quota faster? Maybe. First, Anthropic is also trying to manage user satisfaction as well as costs. If OpenCode or whatever burns through your limits faster, are you likely to place the blame on OpenCode? Maybe a good analogy was when DoorDash/GrubHub/Uber Eats/etc signed up restaurants to their system without their permission. When things didn't go well, the customers complained about the restaurants, even though it wasn't their fault, because they chose not to support delivery at scale. Second, flat-rate pricing, unlike API pricing, is the same for cached vs uncached iirc, so even if total token limits are the same, less caching means higher costs.
      • DrammBA 9mo ago
        > are you likely to place the blame on OpenCode? am I? Probably, but I get your point that your average user would blame Anthropic instead. > even if total token limits are the same, less caching means higher costs Not really, flat-rate pricing simply gives you a fixed token allotment, so less caching means you consume your 5-hour/weekly allotment faster.
        • KingMob 9mo ago
          > Not really, flat-rate pricing simply gives you a fixed token allotment, so less caching means you consume your 5-hour/weekly allotment faster. Higher costs for Anthropic, not users. With a tool that caches suboptimally, you cost Anthropic more per token.
          • DrammBA 8mo ago
            Again, subscription gives you a fixed allotment of tokens, doesn't matter if you consume them with claude code or with a 3rd-party tool, both get the same amount of tokens and thus cost Anthropic the same. In fact it might even be better for Anthropic if people use 3rd-party tools that cache suboptimally because the cache hits don't consume the fixed allotment so claude code users get more of a free ride and thus cost Anthropic more money.
  • croes 9mo ago
    What if I'm only willing to pay if it support by tool of choice? Would you pay for a streaming service that enforces a certain TV brand? Given the latest changes on Claude Code where they hide the actions https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033622 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033622 it's likely more the other way around. They control how fast your subscription tokens are burned
    • kgwgk 9mo ago
      > What if I'm only willing to pay if it support by tool of choice? I don’t want to say that you won’t be missed but they will get over it.
• blackoil 9mo ago
  They'll own entire pipeline interface, conduit, backend. Interface is what people get habitual to. If I am a regular user of Claude Code, I may not shift to competitor for 10-20% gains in cost.
• xigoi 9mo ago
  They want that sweet vendor lock-in.
• kgwgk 9mo ago
  Why does it matter to the free buffet manager where do you consume the food? We may never know.
  • koolala 9mo ago
    Because it could be over longer time periods than buffet hours.