Anthropic is no longer offering a free ride for third-party apps using its Claude AI. Boris Cherny, Anthropic’s creator and head of Claude Code, posted on X that Claude subscriptions will no longer cover using the AI agent for third-party tools, like OpenClaw, for free. As of 3PM ET on April 4, anyone using Claude through third-party apps or software will have to do so with an extra usage bundle or with a Claude API key, according to Cherny.
Most of Claude’s workload may come from simple user questions, but there are those who use the AI chatbot through OpenClaw, a free and open-source AI assistant from the same developer as Moltbook. Unlike more general AI solutions, OpenClaw is designed to automate personal workflows, like clearing inboxes, sending emails or organizing calendars, but leans on external large language models, including Claude, ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Cherny replied to X users that this change is about engineering constraints and optimization. “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 on X. “Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully and we are prioritizing our customers using our products and API.”
If OpenClaw users still want to use Anthropic as its LLM, they will have to buy a usage bundle, which are currently discounted, or switch to another AI integration like xAI, Perplexity or even DeepSeek. Of course, Anthropic has its own alternative, which tackles some similar tasks as OpenClaw, called Claude Cowork.
