Anthropic has announced that it will no longer let users run third-party tools on Claude for free. Now, those who want to use tools, such as OpenClaw on Claude, will need to pay more in addition to their existing Claude subscription.
Anthropic executive Boris Cherny confirmed the change on X. He stated that this will go into effect from Saturday, April 4, 2026. He wrote on X, “Starting tomorrow at 12 pm PT (12:30 am IST), Claude subscriptions will no longer cover usage on third-party tools like OpenClaw.”
What is OpenClaw?
OpenClaw is an open-source agentic AI platform. Users can run OpenClaw locally on their device on AI models such as Claude or ChatGPT. This allows you to use OpenClaw as your AI agent that can then do your tasks on its own.
Anthropic has since worked on giving agentic AI features to Claude, such as Dispatch and computer use. Claude can now be controlled remotely via your phone, and the AI can do tasks such as building and testing an app in a single prompt.
OpenClaw went viral a few weeks ago when OpenClaw AI bots started posting on Moltbook, an AI-only social media platform.
OpenClaw creator reacts to Anthropic’s change
Peter Steinberger shared a post on X, claiming that he tried to change Anthropic’s mind but to no avail. He wrote, “Both me and
Dave Morin tried to talk sense into Anthropic, best we managed was delaying this for a week.”
Steinberger took a dig at the Dario Amodei-led startup over allegedly coping OpenClaw’s features. He added, “Funny how timings match up, first they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source.”
Why is Anthropic charging extra for OpenClaw?
According to Cherny, Anthropic’s computing capacity was not optimised for third-party tools like OpenClaw. He wrote, “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.”
In the past week, many users have complained that they have run out of their Claude usage limits much quicker than before. However, Anthropic has stated that no user was charged unfairly, and instead gave some suggestions for reduced token use.
Boris Cherny confirmed that users can still run tools like OpenClaw, but at an additional cost that will be billed separately. He stated, “You can still use these tools with your Claude login via extra usage bundles (now available at a discount), or with a Claude API key.”
Do note that the creator of OpenClaw, Peter Steinberger, joined OpenAI recently. Though the agentic AI platform remains open source with no involvement of the Sam Altman-led startup.
Anthropic faces backlash for charging extra for third party tools
On X, some users expressed their discontent with this change. One user wrote, “I love you guys, and Claude is amazing, but this low-key sucks this decision is actually going to actively hurt a lot of people.”
Another person commented, “The increasing demand is nothing to do with third party use. The amount of tokens is the same. Why do you treat us as stupid?”
One user asked for a clear refund. The person stated, “That’s not how business works. You have to refund or give more notice.”
Boris Cherny confirmed that the company was going to give refunds. He replied, “We are issuing full refunds, as well as discounts for overages. If you’re impacted, expect an email link tomorrow.”
