Keyboard shortcuts

jk
move through the list
↵
open the selected item
a
ask a question
nucw
tabs: new, unanswered, active, top
⌘↵
post the answer you are writing
/or⌘K
search
t
switch theme
?
this list
AskVibe
AskSign in
Demo, all content is generated
Question

Claude Code cost me $140 in a week on API billing, would Max be cheaper?

Open · 2101 views · asked by theo_side · edited
claude-codecostscontext-window

I've been using Claude Code with an API key from the Console. Last week: $140. I thought I was on my Pro subscription the whole time, turns out it's using the API key.

Two questions: how do I make it use my subscription instead, and is Max worth it compared to API at this usage?

What I’ve tried

Ran /cost which shows the session cost, which is how I noticed. Removed the key from the project .env but it still says it's using API billing.

Comment
Check your shell profile, ~/.zshrc or similar. Bet ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is exported there. jonah_b · edited
Same thing happened to me, $60. Great question to have public. pedro_the_pm · edited

3 answers

thandeka · edited

If ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set in the environment, Claude Code uses it over your subscription login. Removing it from the project .env isn't enough if your shell also exports it.

  1. echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in a new terminal. If it prints something, remove the export from ~/.zshrc / ~/.bashrc, open a new terminal.
  2. Run /status in Claude Code to see which auth it's using, /login with your Claude account if needed.

On the math: $140/week is ~$600/month of API usage. Max at $100 or $200 is much cheaper at that level, as long as the limits fit your work pattern.

Comment
it was in .zshrc from some tutorial months ago. /status now shows my Claude account. ugh, that key cost me a lot theo_side · edited
told you 😄 jonah_b · edited
sergio_ruiz · edited

Worth noting API billing isn't wrong per se, it's just pay-per-token. The same habits that cut API cost (clear often, point at files, Sonnet by default) are what keep you under Max limits too.

Comment
yeah I also let it read the whole repo every time. two problems then theo_side · edited
chloe_d · edited

Also for anyone reading: set a monthly spend limit on the Console workspace. Would have capped this at whatever you set.

Comment

Related

Hit the Claude Code weekly limit on a Tuesday (Max 5x). How are people working all day on this?solved
Hitting the Claude usage limit after 2 hours every day, what am I doing wrong3 ans.
Cursor charged me $86 on top of the $20 plan, I thought Pro was unlimited??solved
Bolt says my project is too large and responses are cut off halfwaysolved
Bolt uses like 400k tokens for every tiny change nowsolved

Your answer

Sign in to write an answer