alt Hacker NewsIt's very easy to blow through hundreds of dollars a session using API tokens especially with the 1m context if you aren't careful about clearing old context.
At the same time the subscription will allow the same usage for hundreds of dollars a month.
Either Anthropic is absolutely hosing API users, massively subsidizing subscriptions, or a little bit of both.
Replies
Anthropic has a very "interesting" business model where you get subscription pricing as long as you are under 150 employees. When you hit 151, you have to start paying API prices overnight for everyone, and your total bill instantly multiplies.
They are getting you hooked on cheaper tokens, then raking you in when you get scale. I'm sure Uber gets a break on list price, but I doubt they are anywhere near <150 employee subscription pricing.
I evaluated the pricing and could not justify the jump to Enterprise from Team. You lose the monthly subscription entirely when you jump to enterprise so you lose your ability to control costs.
You can cap per user, but not having the rolling cap are you really just going to tell a member of your team “No AI for the rest of the month”
It’s a risky deal as it sets up now IMO.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/annatong/2026/03/05/cursor-goes...
"Cursor estimated last year that a $200-per-month Claude Code subscription could use up to $2,000 in compute, suggesting significant subsidization by Anthropic. Today, that subsidization appears to be even more aggressive, with that $200 plan able to consume about $5,000 in compute"