Anthropic Is Raising Prices And Pissing People Off
Anthropic is changing its Claude subscription model starting June 15th, shifting third-party app usage to a credit-based system billed at API rates, which users argue significantly reduces value. Despite user frustration, Anthropic has surpassed OpenAI in business adoption as of April.
Summary
Anthropic made two notable announcements this week. First, they increased weekly limits for Claude Code by 50% through July 13th, which was generally positive news. However, a second announcement generated significant backlash: starting June 15th, Anthropic is changing how Claude subscriptions work for usage outside of Claude Code.
Under the new model, users accessing Claude through third-party applications like Open Claw or Hermes — tools built on the agent SDK — will receive a monthly credit allocation based on their subscription tier. Once those credits are exhausted, usage will be billed at standard API rates. Critics in the community are framing this as a major reduction in value rather than a new feature, arguing that API billing rates are expensive enough that even $100–$200 in credits could burn through in just a few hours of heavy use, rendering the subscription impractical for serious development work.
Despite this controversy, Anthropic appears to be gaining ground in the enterprise market. Business adoption of Anthropic rose 3.8% in April, bringing its share to 34.4%, while OpenAI's adoption fell 2.9% to 32.3% — marking a notable shift in competitive positioning between the two AI companies.
Key Insights
- Anthropic increased Claude Code weekly limits by 50% through July 13th, but the positive news was overshadowed by a concurrent pricing change announcement.
- Starting June 15th, Claude users accessing the platform via third-party apps like Open Claw or Hermes will be given a monthly credit allocation, after which they are billed at API rates rather than enjoying flat subscription access.
- Community members are characterizing the new credit system as 'a massive nerf, not a new feature,' arguing that API-rate billing makes even $100–$200 in credits burn out in just a few hours of heavy use.
- The pricing change is seen as particularly damaging for developers doing serious work through third-party agent SDK-based applications, where high usage volume makes API-rate billing prohibitively expensive.
- Despite user frustration over the pricing changes, Anthropic surpassed OpenAI in business adoption in April, with Anthropic reaching 34.4% (+3.8%) versus OpenAI's 32.3% (-2.9%).
Topics
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