Anthropic is no longer offering free rides to third-party apps using its cloud AI. Boris Cherny, creator of Anthropic and head of cloud code, posted on X that cloud subscriptions will no longer be covered by using AI agents for free thanks to third-party tools like OpenClave. According to Cherney, as of 3 p.m. ET on April 4, anyone using the cloud through third-party apps or software will have to do so with an additional usage bundle or a cloud API key.
Much of the cloud’s workload may come from simple user queries, but there are also those that use AI chatbots through OpenClaw, a free and open-source AI assistant from the same developer as Moltb. Unlike more general AI solutions, OpenClaw is designed to automate individual workflows, like clearing inboxes, sending emails or organizing calendars, but relies on external large language models including Cloud, ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Cherney replied to X users that this change is about engineering constraints and optimization. “We are working hard to meet the growth in demand for cloud, and our subscriptions were not built for the usage patterns of these third-party tools,” Cherney told X. “Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully and we are putting our customers first by using our products and APIs.”
If OpenClaw users still want to use Anthropic as an LLM, they will need to purchase a usage bundle, which is currently discounted, or switch to another AI integration like XAI, Perplexity or even DeepSeek. Of course, Anthropic has its own alternative that tackles some of the same tasks as OpenGL, called Cloud Cowork.
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