Bad news Claude users Anthropic says you'll need to pay to use OpenClaw now

Date:
Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:05:00 +0000

Description:
Anthropic is removing third-party tools like OpenClaw from its subscription
to balance demand and strain.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Pro Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are
now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter OpenClaw and other third parties removed from Claude subscription as of April 4, 2026 "These tools put an outsized strain
on our systems," Anthropic says OpenClaw founders criticise Anthropic for "lock[ing] out open source" Anthropic has removed a number of third-party tools, including OpenClaw , from the standard Claude subscription with effect from April 4, 2026, meaning that users wishing to connect to OpenClaw and other third-party services will need to pay separately.

"Starting April 4..., youll no longer be able to use your Claude subscription limits for third-party harnesses including OpenClaw," the company wrote in an email shared by a customer (via Hacker News ). With existing subscription limits no longer applying to the use of these tools, users will need to take on pay-as-you-go billing, prepaid usage bundles or API costs to regain
access. Article continues below You may like Anthropic goes to court over 'supply chain risk' label, as Claude usage rises Users are flocking to Claude then realizing they cant use it the same way Anthropic is giving a bunch of Claude's pro-level AI tools to free users OpenClaw is now separately chargeable for Claude users "To make the transition easier, were offering a one-time credit for extra usage equal to your monthly subscription price," Anthropic added, which is redeemable until April 17. Up to 30% off bundles is also being offered.

The company likely made the change because Claude subscriptions were designed for human chat usage, not for autonomous agent workflows. with agentic tools like OpenClaw generating massive compute usage beyond what a typical human user would require, it's put Anthropic's current model under strain.

"Weve been working to manage demand across the board, but these tools put an outsized strain on our systems," the company added in its email.

Users are also being promised the potential to refund their subscriptions based on the fact that their terms have changed. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger criticized Anthropic for "copy[ing] some popular features into their closed harness" and then "lock[ing] out open source.

"Both me and Dave Morin tried to talk sense into Anthropic, best we managed was delaying this for a week," he added.

While the move may be un unsavory one for OpenClaw and Anthropic users, it marks a broader industry shift from flat-rate to usage-based as AI models and use cases evolve.

OpenClaw is an open source AI agent that runs on your own hardware and connects large language models (LLMs) like Claude or ChatGPT to the software and services you use every day. Unlike a chatbot , it doesn't stop at generating a response. It can take actions: reading and writing files,
sending messages, browsing the web, executing scripts, and calling external APIs, all through familiar messaging apps like WhatsApp , Telegram, or Slack. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the
Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/bad-news-claude-users-anthropic-says-youll-need- to-pay-to-use-openclaw-now


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)