alt Hacker NewsClaude Code is only useable from a subscription.
Other than that, API + custom UI seems better since you're paying for the usage instead of competing with other flat-fee users for what seem to be overprovisioned resources (claude.ai was always throwing https 500 or 'sorry we're too busy' errors for me until I switched to API).
Not sure if it's cheaper though - I never checked.
It's insane how bad the first party chat apps are though. That's reason enough to use the API.
Replies
bananapub • last Wednesday at 12:50 PM
> Claude Code is only useable from a subscription.
incorrect, you can pay per API call instead if you want.
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This was once true, I think, but it is no longer true. If you set an API key in your environment, Claude Code will work.