Anthropic Discontinues Subscription Support for Third-Party Tools

Anthropic Ends Subscription Access for Third-Party Tools, Moves to Usage-Based Billing

Anthropic is changing how third-party tools access Claude. Starting at 3:00 AM Beijing time on April 5th, users will no longer be able to call Claude models through subscription credits in third-party tools. AI agent tools like OpenClaw will switch to pay-as-you-go billing.

Access will now require an API or additional paid credits. Boris Cherny, CEO of Claude Code, said the company has been working hard to meet growing demand—but subscriptions weren't designed for how these third-party tools use the service. "Capacity is a carefully managed resource," he added, "prioritized for customers using our products and API." The move is meant to "manage growth intentionally and keep the service sustainable long-term."