Anthropic blocks OpenClaw from Claude subscriptions, sparking controversy over third-party tools

Anthropic temporarily banned OpenClaw's creator from accessing Claude | TechCrunch

"Yeah folks, it's gonna be harder in the future to ensure OpenClaw still works with Anthropic models," OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger posted on X early Friday morning, along with a photo of a message from Anthropic saying his account had been suspended over "suspicious" activity. The ban didn't last long. A few hours later, after the post went viral, Steinberger said his account had been reinstated. Among hundreds of comments -- many of them in conspiracy theory land, given that Steinberger is now employed by Anthropic rival OpenAI -- was one by an Anthropic engineer. The engineer told the famed developer that Anthropic has never banned anyone for using OpenClaw and offered to help. It's not clear if that was the key that restored the account. (We've asked Anthropic about it.) But the whole message string was enlightening on many levels. To recap the recent history: this ban followed news last week that subscriptions to Anthropic's Claude would no longer cover "third-party harnesses including OpenClaw," the AI model company said. OpenClaw users now have to pay for that usage separately, based on consumption, through Claude's API. In essence, Anthropic, which offers its own agent Cowork, is now charging a "claw tax." Steinberger said he was following this new rule and using his API, but was banned anyway. Anthropic said it instituted the pricing change because subscriptions weren't built to handle the "usage patterns" of claws. Claws can be more compute-intensive than prompts or simple scripts because they may run continuous reasoning loops, automatically repeat or retry tasks, and tie into a lot of other third-party tools. Steinberger, however, wasn't buying that excuse. After Anthropic changed the pricing, he posted, "Funny how timings match up, first they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source." Though he didn't specify, he may have been referring to features added to Claude's agent Cowork, such as Claude Dispatch, which lets users remotely control agents and assign tasks. Dispatch rolled out a couple of weeks before Anthropic changed its OpenClaw pricing policy. Steinberger's frustration with Anthropic was again on display Friday. One person implied that some of this is on him, for taking a job at OpenAI instead of Anthropic, posting "You had the choice, but you went to the wrong one." To which Steinberger replied: "One welcomed me, one sent legal threats." Ouch. When multiple people asked him why he's using Claude instead of his employer's models at all, he explained that he only uses it for testing, to ensure updates to OpenClaw won't break things for Claude users. He explained: "You need to separate two things. My work at the OpenClaw Foundation where we wanna make OpenClaw work great for *any* model provider, and my job at OpenAI to help them with future product strategy." Multiple people also pointed out that the need to test Claude is because that model remains a popular choice for OpenClaw users over ChatGPT. He also heard that when Anthropic changed its pricing, to which he replied: "Working on that." (So, that's a clue about what his job at OpenAI entails.) Steinberger did not respond to a request for comment.

Anthropic Reins In Subscribers' Unlimited AI Use for OpenClaw

Macy has been working for CNET for coming on 2 years. Prior to CNET, Macy received a North Carolina College Media Association award in sports writing. Anthropic over the weekend told subscribers they'd have to pay up for heavy use of its Claude AI models to power third-party agents like OpenClaw. Users with monthly subscriptions can still use Claude models, including Opus, Sonnet and Haiku, through these third-party agents. But you'll have to pay via Anthropic's API or use a "pay-as-you-go option" that will be billed separately from your Claude subscription payment. "The $20/month all-you-can-eat buffet just closed," wrote AI product manager Aakash Gupta on X. At the same time, Anthropic recently announced new features that bring some of the things that made OpenClaw so popular into Claude itself. Claude can use your computer, even if you're not at it, for example. There has been growing tension between OpenAI and Anthropic, recently inflamed by the controversies involving contracts with the US Defense Department. But there is also tension between users who want to run autonomous AI agents constantly and the AI labs that are trying to control costs by managing the tasks their models are used for. Claude is a chatbot that was created to be prompted by humans, not for millions of AI agents to use it for workflows. These agent tools, like Manis and OpenClaw, require much more power to run and burn through tokens faster than regular human chatting. Anthropic has already taken steps to address the demand that heavy agent users bring, like a five-hour session cap during peak periods for the models. "We've been working to manage demand across the board, but these tools put an outsized strain on our systems," Anthropic wrote in its email to customers. OpenAI has been all-in on agentic tools. Earlier this year, the AI company hired Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, with the aim of bringing AI agents to a broad audience. Steinberger was vocal about his critiques of Anthropic's new policy, taking to X over the weekend. "Funny how timings match up, first they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source," he wrote. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) Friction between heavy agent users and AI companies is likely to get worse. These AI agent tools are extremely powerful: they can run for hours, take actions across apps like Gmail, Slack and iMessage, and work autonomously much longer and faster than a human could. Because of this power, they are far more costly and require far more power to run compared to a human prompting a bot. It's likely that AI companies will increasingly push these compute costs onto heavy users through price increases or steps like those taken by Anthropic.

Anthropic: You Can't Use OpenClaw With Claude Without Paying Extra

AI firm Anthropic has clamped down on people using its Claude chatbot via the agentic AI tool OpenClaw. OpenClaw, released in late 2025, is a free and open-source AI agent that can execute tasks via third-party large language models (LLMs) like Claude, ChatGPT, Grok or Google Gemini. The app, which was even called "Clawd" when it debuted, has always had a close relationship with Anthropic's LLMs. As of 4 April 2026, Claude Pro and Max subscribers can no longer use their available credits through third-party frameworks such as OpenClaw. They are allowed to keep using tools like OpenClaw in theory, but they must now pay separately under a new "extra usage" billing system. Anthropic's Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code, chalked up the move to cost concerns in a post on X, saying the tool's 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," said Cherny. Cherny explained that his firm was a "big fan of open source," and that the move "is more about engineering constraints." Though the move currently only impacts OpenClaw, the policy is set to be rolled out to other third-party tools in the coming weeks. The news follows OpenClaw's creator Peter Steinberger joining OpenAI in February. The move saw OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman promise to support OpenClaw as an open source project. Steinberger claimed he had "begged" Anthropic to reconsider the recent restriction on OpenClaw, but was only able to delay the change by a week. The Claude-maker isn't the only AI giant that is shutting down popular products due to resource concerns. Last month, OpenAI shut down its AI video generator Sora, both the consumer app and the API. A spokesperson said the company wanted to free up resources for other areas of the business, such as "world simulation research to advance robotics."

Anthropic closes door on subscription use of OpenClaw

OpenClaw is popular, but not with the people responsible for keeping Anthropic's services online. The company has disallowed subscription-based pricing for users who use the open-source agentic tool with Claude to try to keep things moving. Probably not because of OpenClaw, Claude was struggling on Monday with degraded service following further efforts to balance capacity with demand. "We have identified an issue resulting in elevated errors on Claude.ai, including desktop and mobile," the company's status page said, characterizing the incident as "a partial outage." Uptime over the past 90 days slipped to 98.82 percent. An Anthropic spokesperson did not immediately have an answer as to the source of the issue. But the disruption did not last long. "From 15:00-16:30 UTC on April 6, we saw elevated errors on login for Claude.ai and Claude Code," the company's status page said. "This issue also affected some Claude.ai conversations and other product functionality such as voice mode. This issue is now resolved." The service disruption follows a period of high demand for Claude, one that the company has tried to address by denying access to third-party tools that use the AI service through subscriptions. On Friday, Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code, said, "Starting tomorrow at 12pm PT, Claude subscriptions will no longer cover usage on third-party tools like OpenClaw." Cherny explained that the restriction followed from engineering constraints. "Our systems are highly optimized for one kind of workload, and to serve as many people as possible with the most intelligent models, we are continuing to optimize that," he said. He nonetheless insisted, "We're big fans of open source. I actually just put up a few [pull requests] to improve prompt cache efficiency for OpenClaw specifically." Google in February took similar action to enforce its terms of service related to its Antigravity AI development environment, Gemini CLI, and Gemini Code Assist. "Using third-party software, tools, or services to harvest or piggyback on Gemini CLI's OAuth authentication to access our backend services is a direct violation of Gemini CLI's applicable terms and policies," said Jack Wotherspoon, Gemini CLI developer relations, at the time. Anthropic sells AI service tokens through either subscriptions or its API. Subscribers pay a flat rate and are subject to session and monthly usage limits, with an option to pay for extra usage once capped. API customers pay per token, with no usage limits. For developers who use Claude heavily, subscription-based pricing can be significantly less expensive. For this reporter during the month of March, a $20 monthly subscription enabled about $236 of token usage (which doesn't necessarily reflect the actual per token cost to Anthropic). Others report similarly skewed ratios when price paid is compared to list price value or more - 36x by one measure. This would presumably be balanced somewhat by developers who pay for underutilized subscriptions. But as Anthropic works toward going public, the company has an incentive to ensure its customer acquisition strategy doesn't lead customers toward rival products or magnify costs. The developer community has long been aware of the price advantage of Claude subscriptions and many subscribers have chosen to use third-party harnesses (e.g. OpenCode, Pi) to interact with Claude Code. Unfortunately, Anthropic has had trouble keeping up with demand. In February, the biz reaffirmed its preexisting policy forbidding the use of third-party harnesses with Claude subscriptions. This was around the time OpenClaw, an AI agent platform intended to operate autonomously 24/7, began attracting attention. In late March, Anthropic implemented another strategy to balance demand and capacity: It changed the way subscription usage was calculated so that customers burned through their usage limits faster during peak hours. As of April 4, 2026, Anthropic went from policy warnings to billing-based enforcement. "Starting April 4, third-party tools will draw from extra usage instead of subscription limits," an Anthropic spokesperson said in a statement provided to The Register. "Using Claude subscriptions with third-party tools isn't permitted under our Terms of Service, and they put an outsized strain on our systems. Capacity is something we manage thoughtfully, and we need to prioritize customers using our core products." Claude subscriptions continue to apply to Claude.ai, Claude Code, and Cowork. Anthropic attempted to mitigate the ill will generated by the move - announced only one day before implementation - by offering subscribers a month of extra usage credit based on their monthly plan. The company is also offering extra usage bundles at 30 percent off. And if that's unsatisfactory, customers have the option to cancel their plan and receive a refund. Customers can still use Claude with third-party tools through extra usage bundles (purchased through the Claude account page) or by using an API key. "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," Cherny explained. "Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully and we are prioritizing our customers using our products and API." Capacity is a resource that may continue to be scarce if demand continues to grow. Bloomberg recently reported that more than half of the US datacenters planned to open this year will face delays. ®

Claude subscribers just lost access to OpenClaw and other third-party tools -- unless they pay more

Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Summary Claude subscriptions no longer cover third-party tools (like OpenClaw) starting April 4th at 12pm PT. To use Claude on OpenClaw, you'll need extra usage bundles or a Claude API key. Anthropic blames surging demand, but subscribers get a one-time credit equal to one month. As AI has begun to take off, we're seeing the rise of services that allow you to attach your favorite AI model to it. Such is the case of OpenClaw, which allows you to use your API of choice to create a digital assistant that can help you perform tasks that a regular LLM can only dream of doing. For a while, using OpenClaw and Claude was a dream combination, using the utility of the former with the smarts of the latter to help people get stuff done. Unfortunately, Anthropic has just announced that if you want to continue using Claude on third-party services like OpenClaw, you're gonna have to pay more. Related Claude can now automate your entire desktop, but with a serious limitation It's likely a temporary one, though. Posts 7 By Simon Batt Using Claude on OpenClaw is getting more expensive But Anthropic is giving everyone some credit In a post on X, Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code at Anthropic, announced the change in plans. Once 12 pm PT arrives on April 4th, 2026, anyone with a Claude subscription won't have their OpenClaw usage covered by their plan. You'll need to either purchase an extra usage bundle or use a Claude API key. Cherny says the change is because Claude has been seeing a ton of demand lately (as is evident by the multiple times it went down in March), and Anthropic hadn't properly built third-party tool usage into the Claude subscription plans. Fortunately, Anthropic is offering up to a 30% discount on pre-purchased extra usage bundles to make the transition less painful. Plus, if you are a subscriber, Anthropic will give you a one-time credit to your account, equal to how much you've been paying every month. You'll need to redeem it by April 17th, so don't waste time grabbing it. Cherny also mentions in the replies that using OpenClaw on a Claude subscription plan wasn't allowed in the first place, as per the Terms of Service. As such, Cherny feels this is less restricting people based on what they're using Claude for and more enforcing the rules they had set up already. Related I set up Claude Code the way its creator does, and the difference is night and day Who better to learn from than the person who made it? Posts 18 By Mahnoor Faisal

Anthropic blocks OpenClaw from Claude subscriptions in cost crackdown | TNW

In short: Anthropic has blocked Claude Pro and Max subscribers from using their flat-rate plans with third-party AI agent frameworks, starting with OpenClaw. The move, which took effect on 4 April 2026, shifts the cost of running autonomous agents onto users through a pay-as-you-go billing tier. The creator of OpenClaw, who joined OpenAI in February, called the decision a betrayal of open-source developers. Thousands of users now face cost increases of up to 50 times their previous monthly outlay. Anthropic has ended a quiet subsidy that made its Claude models the engine of choice for the open-source AI agent community. Starting on 4 April 2026, users of Claude's Pro and Max subscription tiers can no longer pipe their plan's usage limits through third-party frameworks such as OpenClaw. If they want to keep using those tools with Claude, they must pay separately under a new "extra usage" billing system. Anthropic says it will extend the restriction to all third-party harnesses in the coming weeks. The announcement landed as a jolt for thousands of developers who had structured their personal AI setups around the assumption that a flat monthly subscription was enough. For many of them, it no longer is. The logic behind the change is straightforward even if the timing was not. Claude's subscription plans were designed around conversational use: a human opens a chat window, types a query, and reads a response. Agentic frameworks operate on a fundamentally different model. A single OpenClaw instance running autonomously for a full day, browsing the web, managing calendars, responding to messages, executing code, can consume the equivalent of $1,000 to $5,000 in API costs, depending on the task load. Under a $200-per-month Max subscription, that is an unsustainable transfer of compute costs from the user to Anthropic. "Anthropic's subscriptions weren't built for the usage patterns of these third-party tools," said Boris Cherny, Head of Claude Code at Anthropic. "Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully and we are prioritising our customers using our products and API." The scale of the problem was significant. More than 135,000 OpenClaw instances were estimated to be running at the time of the announcement, and industry analysts had noted a price gap of more than five times between what heavy agentic users paid under flat subscriptions and what equivalent usage would cost at API rates. Anthropic's subscription business was, in effect, quietly cross-subsidising a class of usage it had not priced for. OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent framework created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger. Originally released in November 2025 under the name Clawdbot, it was a side project: Steinberger wanted to see what would happen if you gave a large language model persistent memory, tool access, and the ability to communicate through messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. The answer, it turned out, was that an enormous number of people wanted exactly that. The project was renamed twice in three days in late January 2026: first to Moltbot, after Anthropic raised trademark concerns about the phonetic similarity to "Claude," and then to OpenClaw three days later. By 2 March 2026, the repository had accumulated 247,000 GitHub stars and 47,700 forks. It had become what many observers were calling the fastest-growing GitHub project in history, reaching 100,000 stars in under 48 hours at its peak. The framework supports more than 50 integrations and works across Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini, and DeepSeek. Tencent built an enterprise platform directly on top of it, demonstrating that OpenClaw's influence had already extended well beyond individual hobbyists. The restriction becomes more pointed given what happened in February. On 14 February 2026, Steinberger announced he was leaving his own project to join OpenAI. Sam Altman posted publicly that Steinberger would "drive the next generation of personal agents" at the company, and that OpenClaw would be moved to an open-source foundation with OpenAI's continued support. Steinberger wrote in a blog post that "teaming up with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this to everyone." Anthropic's restrictions were announced and enforced within weeks of that move, a timeline that has not escaped notice. Steinberger and fellow investor Dave Morin attempted to negotiate a softer landing, approaching Anthropic directly, but by their account only managed to delay enforcement by a single week. "First they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source," Steinberger wrote in response to the ban. Whether the timing reflects competitive calculation or coincidence, the effect is the same. The most popular open-source agent framework, now loosely affiliated with OpenAI, has been effectively priced off Claude's subscription tier. For developers accustomed to unlimited agentic runs under a flat plan, the new billing structure is a significant disruption. Under pay-as-you-go extra usage, per-interaction costs are estimated at $0.50 to $2.00 per task, which makes heavy agentic use expensive in ways that a fixed monthly plan obscured. Some users report facing cost increases of 10 to 50 times their previous outlay. Hobbyist developers and solo practitioners, the cohort that built OpenClaw's early adoption, are most exposed. Anthropic has offered two concessions to smooth the transition. Subscribers receive a one-time credit equal to their monthly plan cost, redeemable until 17 April. Users who pre-purchase extra usage bundles can receive discounts of up to 30%. Users who want to continue running OpenClaw with Claude can do so either through those extra usage bundles or by supplying a separate Claude API key, which bypasses subscription limits but charges at full API rates: $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens for Claude Sonnet 4.6, and $15 and $75 respectively for Claude Opus 4.6. The decision fits a broader pattern. Anthropic committed $100 million to its Claude Partner Network in March 2026, formalising a web of enterprise consulting and integration relationships built around its own products. Separately, the company has launched a marketplace for Claude-powered software, allowing enterprise customers to purchase third-party applications without Anthropic taking a commission, but through channels Anthropic controls. The pattern is consistent: Anthropic wants the revenue, the data, and the governance that comes with owning the customer relationship, and it is making it incrementally less attractive to route that relationship through tools it did not build. Claude Code, Anthropic's own developer environment, is included in Pro and Max subscription plans and is not subject to the new restrictions. The message to developers is implicit but legible: build inside Anthropic's ecosystem, or pay API rates to build outside it. Anthropic's $3 billion raise in early 2026 was accompanied by language about building "artificial super-intelligence for science" and expanding its research infrastructure. What it also reflects is the commercial pressure of running one of the most computationally intensive products in the world at scale. Compute costs do not flatten because users prefer flat subscription pricing. For an AI industry that spent 2025 racing to acquire users, 2026 is increasingly about working out who actually pays for them, and how much.

AI's agent buffet is closed

Why it matters: The move underscores a growing tension at the heart of the AI boom: power users want autonomous agents that run constantly, but AI labs are trying to control costs, capacity and how their models are used. Driving the news: Anthropic's Boris Cherny announced the change on X late Friday. * Users can still access Claude models -- including Opus, Sonnet and Haiku -- through outside agent frameworks. * But they'll now need to pay via Anthropic's API or a new pay-as-you-go "extra usage" system, rather than relying on flat-rate subscriptions. * "The $20/month all-you-can-eat buffet just closed," writes AI product manager Aakash Gupta. Catch up quick: OpenClaw is a popular open-source tool that lets users run autonomous AI agents continuously. * These agents can burn through far more tokens than typical chatbot use -- sometimes running 24/7. * Claude's $20/month subscriptions had effectively allowed heavy users to access high-cost model usage at a flat price. * By pushing developers toward API billing and paid add-ons, Anthropic gains tighter control over pricing, rate limits and margins. Between the lines: Compute is finite, and power users were straining the system. * Anthropic had already introduced stricter usage limits, including five-hour session caps during peak periods. * Heavy agent usage can reduce availability for everyday users. The big picture: Expect more friction like this. Agentic AI is far more expensive to run than chatbots and someone has to pay. * These systems can run for hours and take actions across apps, so AI providers end up footing the bill for the compute costs incurred by super users. * As Anthropic's Cherny put it: "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," he said. Yes, but: The shift is also fueling backlash from the open-source community. * OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger, who was hired by OpenAI, said he pushed Anthropic to reconsider and shared workarounds after the change. * Some users are exploring locally run models to avoid usage limits altogether. Zoom out: The move reflects a broader strategic divide in AI: efficiency versus growth. * Critics have argued rivals like Sam Altman's OpenAI lack financial discipline, while Anthropic is successfully pitching Wall Street on a more capital-efficient approach. * A former employee of several different frontier AI labs told Axios that Anthropic emphasized efficiency in how it trains and runs models, while the mindset at OpenAI was that Altman could always raise more capital to support scaling compute. Bottom line: The faster agents get more capable, the more the business model (rather than the tech) becomes the bottleneck.

Bad news Claude users -- Anthropic says you'll need to pay to use OpenClaw now

* OpenClaw and other third parties removed from Claude subscription as of April 4, 2026 * "These tools put an outsized strain on our systems," Anthropic says * OpenClaw founders criticise Anthropic for "lock[ing] out open source" Anthropic has removed a number of third-party tools, including OpenClaw, from the standard Claude subscription with effect from April 4, 2026, meaning that users wishing to connect to OpenClaw and other third-party services will need to pay separately. "Starting April 4..., you'll no longer be able to use your Claude subscription limits for third-party harnesses including OpenClaw," the company wrote in an email shared by a customer (via Hacker News). With existing subscription limits no longer applying to the use of these tools, users will need to take on pay-as-you-go billing, prepaid usage bundles or API costs to regain access. OpenClaw is now separately chargeable for Claude users "To make the transition easier, we're offering a one-time credit for extra usage equal to your monthly subscription price," Anthropic added, which is redeemable until April 17. Up to 30% off bundles is also being offered. The company likely made the change because Claude subscriptions were designed for human chat usage, not for autonomous agent workflows. with agentic tools like OpenClaw generating massive compute usage beyond what a typical human user would require, it's put Anthropic's current model under strain. "We've been working to manage demand across the board, but these tools put an outsized strain on our systems," the company added in its email. Users are also being promised the potential to refund their subscriptions based on the fact that their terms have changed. OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger criticized Anthropic for "copy[ing] some popular features into their closed harness" and then "lock[ing] out open source. "Both me and Dave Morin tried to talk sense into Anthropic, best we managed was delaying this for a week," he added. While the move may be un unsavory one for OpenClaw and Anthropic users, it marks a broader industry shift from flat-rate to usage-based as AI models and use cases evolve. OpenClaw is an open source AI agent that runs on your own hardware and connects large language models (LLMs) like Claude or ChatGPT to the software and services you use every day. Unlike a chatbot, it doesn't stop at generating a response. It can take actions: reading and writing files, sending messages, browsing the web, executing scripts, and calling external APIs, all through familiar messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Slack. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

Anthropic cuts off the ability to use Claude subscriptions with OpenClaw and third-party AI agents

Are you a subscriber to Anthropic's Claude Pro ($20 monthly) or Max ($100-$200 monthly) plans and use its Claude AI models and products to power third-party AI agents like OpenClaw? If so, you're in for an unpleasant surprise. Anthropic announced a few hours ago that starting tomorrow, Saturday, April 4, 2026, at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET, it will no longer be possible for those Claude subscribers to use their subscriptions to hook Anthropic's Claude models up to third-party agentic tools, citing the strain such usage was placing on Anthropic's compute and engineering resources, and desire to serve a wide number of users reliably. "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," wrote Boris Cherny, Head of Claude Code at Anthropic, in a post on X. "Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully and we are prioritizing our customers using our products and API." The company also reportedly sent out an email to this effect to some subscribers. However, it's not certain if subscribers to Claude Team and Enterprise will be impacted similarly. We've reached out to Anthropic for further clarification and will update when we hear back. To be clear, it will still be possible to use Claude models like Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku to power OpenClaw and similar external agents, but users will now need to opt into a pay-as-you-go "extra usage" billing system or utilize Anthropic's application programming interface (API), which charges for every token of usage rather than allowing for open-ended usage up to certain limits, as the Pro and Max plans have allowed so far. The technical reality, according to Anthropic, is that its first-party tools like Claude Code, its AI vibe coding harness, and Claude Cowork, its business app interfacing and control tool, are built to maximize "prompt cache hit rates" -- reusing previously processed text to save on compute. Third-party harnesses like OpenClaw often bypass these efficiencies. "Third party services are not optimized in this way, so it's really hard for us to do sustainably," Cherny explained further on X. He even revealed his own hands-on attempts to bridge the gap: "I did put up a few PRs to improve prompt cache hit rate for OpenClaw in particular, which should help for folks using it with Claude via API/overages." Prior to the news, Anthropic had also begun imposing stricter Claude session limits every 5 hours of usage during business hours (5am-11am PT/8am-2pm ET), meaning that the number of tokens you could send during those sessions dropped. This frustrated some power users who suddenly began reaching their limits far faster than they had previously -- a change Anthropic said was to help "manage growing demand for Claude" and would only affect up to 7% of users at any given time. Anthropic is not banning third-party tools entirely, but it is moving them to a different ledger. The new "Extra Usage" bundles represent a middle ground between a flat-rate subscription and a full enterprise API account. The response from the developer community has been a mixture of analytical acceptance and sharp frustration. Growth marketer Aakash Gupta observed on X that the "all-you-can-eat buffet just closed," noting that a single OpenClaw agent running for one day could burn $1,000 to $5,000 in API costs. "Anthropic was eating that difference on every user who routed through a third-party harness," Gupta wrote. "That's the pace of a company watching its margin evaporate in real time." However, Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw who was recently hired by OpenAI, took a more skeptical view of the "capacity" argument."Funny how timings match up," Steinberger posted on X. "First they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source." Indeed, Anthropic recently added some of the same capabilities that helped OpenClaw catch-on -- such as the ability to message agents through external services like Discord and Telegram -- to Claude Code. Steinberger claimed that he and fellow investor Dave Morin attempted to "talk sense" into Anthropic, but were only able to delay the enforcement by a single week. User @ashen_one, founder of Telaga Charity, voiced a concern likely shared by other small-scale builders: "If I switch both [OpenClaw instances] to an API key or the extra usage you're recommending here, it's going to be far too expensive to make it worth using. I'll probably have to switch over to a different model at this point." ."I know it sucks," Cherny replied. "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 mode The timing of the crackdown is particularly notable given the talent migration. When Steinberger joined OpenAI in February 2026, he brought the "OpenClaw" ethos with him. OpenAI appears to be positioning itself as a more "harness-friendly" alternative, potentially using this moment as a customer acquisition channel for disgruntled Claude power users. By restricting subscription limits to their own "closed harness," Anthropic is asserting control over the UI/UX layer. This allows them to collect telemetry and manage rate limits more granularly, but it risks alienating the power-user community that built the "agentic" ecosystem in the first place. Anthropic's decision is a cold calculation of margins versus growth. As Cherny noted, "Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully." In the 2026 AI landscape, the era of subsidized, unlimited compute for third-party automation is over. For the average user on Claude.ai, the experience remains unchanged; for the power users running autonomous offices, the bell has tolled.

Anthropic Is Forcing Users to Pay Extra to Run OpenClaw With Claude

Bad news, OpenClaw fans: Anthropic wants you to pay more to use its AI models. This wasn't something Anthropic necessarily announced, either; rather, the company started sending emails to affected users, letting them know they could no longer use their Claude Code subscription limits with third-party "harnesses," including -- and most notabl -- OpenClaw. Anthropic confirmed users could still connect to OpenClaw with their Claude account, but they'd have to pay more money in order to do so -- including a "pay-as-you-go" option tacked onto the cost of the subscription. According to Anthropic, this policy change isn't without logic or reason. As highlighted by TechCrunch, Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code, explained on X that the company's subscriptions "weren't built for the usage patterns of these third-party tools," and that Anthropic is prioritizing customers who are using the company's first-party products and API. OpenClaw has had quite a ride. The tool, which was previously called Moltbot, and first called Clawdbot, is designed to be an agentic AI assistant you run locally on your devices. For many, that means running OpenClaw on a Mac mini designed for this one purpose. Unlike ChatGPT or Gemini, which has their own proprietary interfaces, you communicate with OpenClaw through any chat app of your choice. You can text OpenClaw in WhatsApp, Apple Messages, Microsoft Teams, whatever you want, to organize your email inbox, write code for a project, plan out your goals for the month, whatever it is you want your agent to do. But OpenClaw doesn't just...run. You need to power it with an AI model. In this case, users are relying on Anthropic's Claude -- and, if they had a Claude Code subscription, they were simply tapping into that plan they already paid for. As you might expect, running agentic tasks through OpenClaw is extremely intensive, which pushed Anthropic to rethink how it was charging users. Interestingly, OpenClaw's founder, Peter Steinberger, joined OpenAI back in February -- one of Anthropic's chief rivals. Steinberger said on X that he and OpenClaw board member Dave Morin "tried to talk sense into Anthropic, [but] best we managed was delaying this for a week."

OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger in limbo after Anthropic cuts Claude access - The Economic Times

The AI firm has restricted the third-party agent tool OpenClaw from connecting to Claude models under standard plans. Developers would now need to shift to API-based, usage-billed access.Artificial intelligence (AI) major Anthropic has blocked its Claude models from being used with OpenClaw, a third-party agent tool built by developer Peter Steinberger. In a post on X, Steinberger wrote, "It's gonna be harder in the future to ensure OpenClaw still works with Anthropic models." The post included a screenshot showing that OpenClaw can no longer reliably connect to Claude under standard subscription plans, in line with Anthropic's announcement on April 4. OpenClaw allows users to run autonomous AI agents that can interact with apps and services, often requiring continuous model access. Steinberger's tool had integrated Claude as one of its primary model options. Anthropic has indicated that such usage patterns place heavier demands on its infrastructure than typical chatbot interactions. The company has been tightening controls on how its models are accessed, particularly through automated or agent-based systems. Under the updated setup, developers seeking to use Claude with tools like OpenClaw may need to rely on separate API access and usage-based billing instead of standard subscriptions. Meanwhile, OpenClaw recently introduced a plugin marketplace called ClawHub, alongside a slate of new AI features aimed at accelerating the development of autonomous agents. The development comes on the sidelines of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell holding an urgent meeting with major bank CEOs to alert them about cyber risks associated with Anthropic's latest AI model, Mythos, per a report by Reuters on Friday. Also Read: OpenClaw is the next ChatGPT: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Claude Subscriptions Will No Longer Cover Usage On 'Third-Party Tools' -- Anthropic Cuts OpenClaw Access Ami

Anthropic said it will stop covering usage of its AI model Claude on certain third-party tools, including OpenClaw, under standard subscriptions as it grapples with rapidly increasing demand for computing resources. Anthropic Restricts OpenClaw Integration On Friday, Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code, announced in a series of posts on X that, starting at 12 p.m. PT, Claude subscriptions will no longer include usage through third-party applications such as OpenClaw. "Starting tomorrow at 12pm PT, Claude subscriptions will no longer cover usage on third-party tools like OpenClaw," Cherny wrote. He added, "You can still use these tools with your Claude login via extra usage bundles... or with a Claude API key." Cherny said the change comes as demand for Claude continues to rise, adding that existing subscription plans were not designed for the heavy usage patterns often generated through external tools. "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," he wrote. He added, "Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully and we are prioritizing our customers using our products and API." To ease the transition, subscribers will receive a one-time credit equal to the cost of their monthly plan and will have the option to purchase discounted usage bundles. Users may also request a refund through a link provided via email. "We want to be intentional in managing our growth to continue to serve our customers sustainably long-term," Cherny added. An Anthropic spokesperson told Business Insider that using Claude subscriptions with third-party tools violates the company's terms of service and places an "outsized strain on our systems." Anthropic Claude AI Code Leak And Outages Last week, Anthropic accidentally exposed instructions for its Claude Code AI agent, prompting the removal of over 8,000 GitHub instances. The leak, caused by a packaging error, did not affect customer data but risked competitors replicating its proprietary harness. The company, valued at $38 billion, had seen rising Claude Code usage and was considering a public offering. In February, it raised $3 billion in Series G funding. Last month, Claude AI also faced multiple outages affecting claude.ai, Claude Code, and Claude Opus 4.6, generating nearly 2,000 user reports. The disruptions coincided with a surge in popularity, as Claude topped the U.S. App Store free chart ahead of ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, following a Trump administration directive labeling Anthropic a supply-chain risk. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

OpenClaw Just Got Banned by Anthropic Heres Why

Anthropic's recent decision to ban the use of OpenClaude with its Claude subscriptions has sparked widespread discussion among users and industry observers. According to Prompt Engineering, this policy shift stems from technical challenges, particularly disruptions to Anthropic's prompt caching mechanisms caused by third-party integrations. These disruptions have led to increased compute costs, making it difficult for the company to sustain its subsidized subscription model. While users can still access Claude services through API keys, the ban underscores Anthropic's focus on maintaining operational efficiency and fair resource distribution. Explore how this decision reflects broader trends in the AI industry, including the move toward tighter control over third-party integrations. You'll gain insight into how Anthropic is addressing user concerns through measures like refunds and API usage credits, as well as the implications for workflows reliant on OpenClaude. Additionally, this guide examines how companies are balancing user satisfaction with long-term sustainability, offering a clearer picture of what these changes mean for the future of AI services. For users, this change raises questions about accessibility, operational efficiency and the future of AI services. As the industry evolves, understanding the implications of such decisions becomes increasingly important. Anthropic's decision to prohibit third-party tools from accessing Claude subscriptions is rooted in its commitment to enforcing usage policies. OpenClaude, a popular third-party tool, is now explicitly unsupported under these updated guidelines. However, it is important to note that users can still access Claude services through API keys, which remain unaffected by this policy change. To mitigate the impact on affected users, Anthropic is offering refunds and equivalent API usage credits. This approach demonstrates an effort to balance user satisfaction with operational priorities. By providing these compensatory measures, the company aims to ease the transition for users while maintaining its focus on efficiency and sustainability. The ban is primarily driven by technical challenges associated with third-party tools like OpenClaude. These tools interfere with Anthropic's internal systems, particularly its prompt caching mechanisms, which are critical for managing compute efficiency. Such disruptions lead to increased compute costs and undermine the sustainability of Anthropic's subsidized Claude subscriptions. At $200 per month, Claude subscriptions offer users substantial compute value compared to API usage. However, when third-party tools bypass internal optimizations, they create unsustainable usage patterns. This inefficiency forces Anthropic to take corrective action to protect its infrastructure and ensure fair resource distribution among users. Browse through more resources below from our in-depth content covering more areas on OpenClaw. The announcement has elicited mixed reactions from users. Many have expressed frustration, particularly regarding the perceived lack of communication and clarity surrounding the changes. Reports indicate that subscription limits are being exhausted more quickly, especially during peak usage hours, due to the restrictions on third-party tools. Users have voiced concerns about the impact on their workflows and the abrupt nature of the policy enforcement. This growing dissatisfaction highlights a disconnect between user expectations and Anthropic's operational priorities. For many, the ban represents a significant adjustment in how they interact with Claude services, prompting some to explore alternative solutions. Anthropic's decision is not an isolated case but part of a broader trend in the AI industry. Major companies, including Google, have also implemented restrictions on third-party tools to better manage resources and reduce subsidies. These measures reflect a shift toward tighter control over how AI services are accessed and utilized. However, OpenAI stands out as a notable exception. Unlike its competitors, OpenAI continues to provide subsidized tokens and resets usage limits for its users. This more open approach contrasts with the restrictive policies adopted by other companies, highlighting the diverse strategies within the industry. As competition intensifies, these differing approaches underscore the challenges of balancing user satisfaction with operational sustainability. The growing demand for AI services is placing immense pressure on companies to optimize resources and expand capacity. In response, Anthropic is focusing on developing proprietary tools, such as Co-work and a Claude desktop application. These in-house solutions could directly compete with third-party tools like OpenClaude, signaling a strategic shift toward proprietary offerings. This move suggests that Anthropic is not only addressing immediate technical challenges but also positioning itself for long-term growth. By investing in its own tools, the company aims to provide users with integrated solutions that align with its operational goals. Anthropic's decision to ban OpenClaude marks a significant moment in the evolution of the AI industry. The era of heavily subsidized services is gradually giving way to a new phase where companies prioritize profitability and efficiency over open access. For users, this shift means adapting to new policies and exploring alternative solutions as the industry continues to evolve. While these changes may be challenging, they reflect the growing pains of an industry striving to balance innovation, accessibility and sustainability. As AI services become more integral to various sectors, companies like Anthropic are redefining their strategies to meet the demands of a rapidly changing landscape. For users, staying informed and adaptable will be key to navigating this fantastic period in the AI industry. Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.

Third-Party Agents Lose Access as Anthropic Tightens Claude Usage Rules | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. That's the reality artificial intelligence company Anthropic confronted when it ended Claude subscription access for third-party agent frameworks. Effective April 4, Claude Pro and Max subscribers can no longer use their plan limits to power tools like OpenClaw, as reported by VentureBeat. Users who want to keep those agents running must now switch to pay-as-you-go usage bundles or connect through a direct API key. Boris Cherny, Anthropic's head of Claude Code, announced the change on X, saying subscriptions were never designed for the kind of continuous, automated demand these tools generate. Affected subscribers received a one-time credit equal to their monthly plan cost. It comes down to a simple mismatch: Consumer subscriptions were built around human behavior. AI agents don't behave like humans. A person typing prompts into a chat interface generates a limited number of requests, constrained by time, attention and sleep. Agents don't stop. They run in loops, execute tasks in parallel, and generate a constant stream of activity that can quickly outpace any individual user. Before changing access rules, Anthropic had already started to feel that strain, and had introduced stricter session limits during peak business hours, a change the company said would affect up to 7% of users, as reported by PYMNTS. The OpenClaw decision pushes these controls further, extending them to how access is granted. The numbers tell the story. A $200-per-month Claude Max subscription was being used to run anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 worth of agent compute tasks, according to The Decoder. Anthropic's own tools reduce costs by reusing previously processed context. Third-party frameworks like OpenClaw skip that efficiency layer entirely, triggering full-cost processing on every request. The new policy applies to all third-party frameworks and will expand beyond OpenClaw. Users can still use Claude models with those tools, but subscriptions will no longer cover the compute. Anthropic isn't alone in drawing a line. Google now spells out exactly what users get: Gemini's 2.5 Pro plan limits free users to 5 prompts per day, while $20-per-month AI Pro subscribers receive 100, and $250 AI Ultra subscribers get 500, the PYMNTs reporting shows. The move from vague tiers to hard caps reflects how standard usage controls have become across major model providers. Cursor and Replit both revisited pricing in 2025 to curb disproportionate usage, resetting expectations around what subscriptions deliver. At the same time, demand for agentic AI is accelerating. In August 2025, 52% of companies surveyed said they were still exploring the technology, according to PYMNTS Intelligence. By November, that number dropped to 30%, with nearly 1 in 4 chief product officers reporting active pilots or full production deployments. The backlash was immediate. OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger, who joined OpenAI in February, said he and fellow investor Dave Morin attempted to negotiate with Anthropic directly and received only a one-week delay, as reported by The Decoder. He accused Anthropic of incorporating OpenClaw features into its own closed system before locking out open-source alternatives, pointing to the recent addition of Discord and Telegram messaging to Claude Code. One developer said switching API rates would make continued use cost-prohibitive and that the change would likely push users toward competing models, as covered by VentureBeat. For now, alternatives exist. OpenAI and several Chinese AI companies still support OpenClaw-style usage under subscription-like access, according to TNW. The open question is how long that model holds as agent demand and infrastructure pressure continues to climb.

What to Use OpenClaw? Claude Code Subscribers Need to Pay More

Anthropic has just made it more expensive for Claude Code subscribers to use their coding assistant with OpenClaw and other third-party tools. And if reports are to be believed, this move comes at a time when AI agent's creator Peter Steinberger had announced that he was joining hands with rival OpenAI while reiterating that OpenClaw would remain an open source project. News of this update was first shared in the form of a customer email from Anthropic which said subscribers would no longer be able to use their Claude subscription limits for third-party harnesses including OpenClaw. The report, shared on Hacker News also said subscribers will need to pay extra usage on a pay-as-you-go model over and above the subscription. The email further noted that while the company was starting the new option on April 4, the same policy would soon apply to all third-party harnesses and will be rolled out to more of them over the next few days or weeks. In a parallel post on X, Anthropic's head of Claude Code Boris Chery said the company's subscriptions "weren't built for the usage patterns of these third-party tools" and that Anthropic was now wanting to be "intentional in managing our growth to continue to serve our customers sustainably long-term. This change is a step toward that." "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," Cherny said in his post on X. Informatively, OpenClaw, previously known as Clawdbot and then Moltbot, gained virality in recent times as it promised to finally be the AI that "actually does things", right from managing a user's calendar to booking flights and joining a social network comprising other AI assistants. Interestingly, the product had to change its name the first time over threats of legal action from Anthropic over the similarity in names to Claude. Later in a blog post in February Steinberger announced "I'm joining OpenAI to work on bringing agents to everyone. OpenClaw will move to a foundation and stay open and independent." It's always been important to me that OpenClaw stays open source and given the freedom to flourish. Ultimately, I felt OpenAI was the best place to continue pushing on my vision and expand its reach. The more I talked with the people there, the clearer it became that we both share the same vision, Steinberger said in the post. He went on to say that OpenAI had made strong commitments to enable the company to dedicate time to grow the open source environment. "To get this into a proper structure I'm working on making it a foundation. It will stay a place for thinkers, hackers and people that want a way to own their data, with the goal of supporting even more models and companies," he said. In fact, Steinberger even posted on X claiming that he and OpenClaw board member Dave Morin had "tried to talk sense into Anthropic" but were only able to delay the price hike. "Funny how timings match up, first they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source," Steinberger said. The situation panning out looks like yet another one related to the tussle between the two founders - Sam Altman and Dario Amodei - which had let to the latter quitting OpenAI and starting Anthropic. Enough has been written about this tussle and we even saw how uncomfortable the two were from each other during an AI event in New Delhi recently. Of course, even now Anthropic holds the view that the Claude Code team continues to be favourable towards open source development. Cherny noted in another post on X that he and his team were big fans of open source. "I actually just put up a few PRs to improve prompt cache efficiency for OpenClaw specifically," he said. He noted that the reason Anthropic was looking at an alternative model related to "engineering constraints." Anthropic's systems were optimised for one kind of workload, and to serve as many people as possible with the most intelligence models. And we are continuing to optimise that, the Claude Code chief said. "When you use an API key or overages it should still work. The issue was just subs. If you still want to cancel, we're giving full refunds. We know not everyone realized this isn't something we support, and this is an attempt to make it clear and explicit," he added. On his part, Altman committed that Steinberger will drive the next generation of personal agents while OpenClaw would live "in a foundation as an open source project that OpenAI will continue to support." Of course, only time will tell how much of this promise would remain so, given that OpenAI itself began as a non-profit before creating a for-profit venture that's readying for a mega IPO sometime this year.

Anthropic Says Claude Code Users Will Need to Pay More for OpenClaw | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The AI startup said that as of April 4, subscribers will "no longer be able to use your Claude subscription limits for third-party harnesses including OpenClaw," according to a customer email shared on the Hacker News forum, and reported by TechCrunch. Instead, subscribers must now pay for extra usage through "a pay-as-you-go option billed separately from your subscription." The changes are beginning with OpenClaw, though the policy "applies to all third-party harnesses and will be rolled out to more shortly," the email said. Anthropic's head of Claude Code Boris Cherny said in a post on social media platform X that the company's "subscriptions weren't built for the usage patterns of these third-party tools" and that Anthropic was now attempting "to be intentional in managing our growth to continue to serve our customers sustainably long-term." OpenClaw is an open-source personal agentic assistant that links to any large language model through an application programming interface (API). The company's creator Peter Steinberger announced recently that he was joining Anthropic rival OpenAI, with OpenClaw continuing as an open source project with backing from the ChatGPT maker. Per the TechCrunch report, Steinberger posted that he and OpenClaw board member Dave Morin "tried to talk sense into Anthropic" but were only able to get the company to delay the price increase by one week. "Funny how timings match up, first they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source," Steinberger said. Cherny maintained that Claude Code team members are "big fans of open source" and that he himself "just put up a few [pull requests] to improve prompt cache efficiency for OpenClaw specifically." Writing about the rise of OpenClaw earlier this year, PYMNTS said that the tool had demonstrated something companies can no longer put off addressing. "When an AI agent such as OpenClaw browses the web, reads email, retrieves files or initiates a transaction, it does not interact with dashboards or graphical interfaces designed for human users. It operates entirely through APIs," that report said. "It calls endpoints. It authenticates. It executes instructions in structured formats. It sequences actions across domains, maintains state across sessions and adapts its next call based on prior responses. That change reframes what enterprise software is and who it is built for."

Anthropic Adds Pay-As-You-Go for OpenClaw Usage

Anthropic has informed subscribers via email that they will now have to pay extra to use OpenClaw, according to posts by users on Reddit and Hacker News. However, users can still access third-party harnesses via a "pay-as-you-go option" billed separately. To ease the shift, the company is offering a one-time credit equal to the monthly subscription, along with discounts of up to 30% on prepaid usage. Additionally, the company said, "these tools put an outsized strain on our systems. Capacity is a resource we manage carefully and we need to prioritise our customers using our core products." What is OpenClaw? OpenClaw is an agentic open-source tool that lets AI models control a user's computer to carry out tasks. It connects to apps and services, enabling the model to send messages, browse websites, manage files, and execute commands through a chat interface. OpenClaw users were recently banned from Google's Antigravity: Google recently restricted access to its Antigravity coding platform for some users who accessed it via OpenClaw in February 2026. Notably, the move affected even paid subscribers and was linked to the use of third-party tools in ways that violated terms of service. Google said it acted after detecting a "massive increase" in malicious usage that degraded service quality for other users. OpenClaw breaks subscription pricing model: Companies are moving OpenClaw-style usage to pay-as-you-go pricing because AI agents fundamentally change cost dynamics. Unlike chat use, agents execute multi-step workflows, call tools, and generate far higher token volumes per task, meaning cost scales with behavior, not just usage. Furthermore, even simple requests can expand into thousands of tokens, and at scale, these interactions can rapidly drive up infrastructure costs. This creates a mismatch with flat subscriptions, which assume predictable usage.

OpenClaw Creator Criticises Anthropic Policy on Third-Party Charges

The creator of OpenClaw has criticised Anthropic's policy of charging extra for third-party use. It has sparked debate about pricing models and developer accessibility within the AI ecosystem. Anthropic has also introduced its own OpenClaw alternatives, unleashing a wave of new features and upgrades across Claude. subscribers may soon have to pay more to continue using Anthropic's AI coding assistant with OpenClaw and other third-party tools. The AI startup has rolled out a new policy where subscribers will "no longer be able to use your Claude subscription limits for third-party harnesses including OpenClaw." Instead, they will need to pay for extra usage through "a pay-as-you-go option billed separately from your subscription," the AI startup reportedly wrote in emails sent to customers. The development was confirmed by Boris Cherny, Anthropic's head of Claude Code. "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," Cherny wrote in a post on X. "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," he added. While it is starting with OpenClaw today, the policy "applies to all third-party harnesses and will be rolled out to more shortly," Anthropic further said.