Anthropic essentially bans OpenClaw from Claude by making subscribers pay extra | The Verge
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The popular combination of OpenClaw and Claude Code is being severed now that Anthropic has announced it will start charging subscribers extra to access its AI with third-party tools.
AINewsAnthropicAnthropic essentially bans OpenClaw from Claude by making subscribers pay extraClaude subscriptions will no longer cover third-party access from tools like OpenClaw starting Saturday, April 4th.Claude subscriptions will no longer cover third-party access from tools like OpenClaw starting Saturday, April 4th.by Jay PetersApr 3, 2026, 11:52 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: The VergePart OfFriday news dumps: all the news companies hoped you wouldn’t noticesee all updates Jay Peters is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.Using OpenClaw with Claude AI is about to get a lot more expensive, thanks to Anthropic’s new policy changes. Beginning April 4th at 3PM ET, users will “no longer be able to use your Claude subscription limits for third-party harnesses including OpenClaw,” according to an email sent to users on Friday evening. Instead, if users want to use OpenClaw with Claude, they’ll have to use a “pay-as-you-go option” that will be billed separate from their Claude subscription.With OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger now employed by OpenAI, Anthropic may also be encouraging subscribers to use more of its own tools, like Claude Cowork, instead. Steinberger says that he and OpenClaw board member Dave Morin “tried to talk sense into Anthropic, best we managed was delaying this for a week.”According to Anthropic Claude Code exec Boris Cherny:Starting tomorrow at 12pm PT, Claude subscript...