AI Tools
Is the Claude API free? The starter credit, plan credits and real prices
The API is billed per token, but new accounts get a small test credit and Max, Ultra and Team plans include monthly API credits that skip interactive Claude Code.
Is the Claude API free? No. Anthropic bills the API per token, monthly and in US dollars, but new users get a small amount of free credit to test it, and the Max, Ultra and Team plans now include monthly API credits, as of November 2026.
That is the whole answer for most people. The details below explain how much free usage each route gives, what it can be spent on, and what you pay once it is gone.
Where free API usage comes from
Anthropic's pricing documentation and its help center list these sources, checked on November 4, 2026.
| Route | Free API usage | Catch |
|---|---|---|
| New Console account | A small amount of free credit | Meant for testing; Anthropic does not state the amount |
| Max plan, $100 a month | $100 a month in API credits | Claim after seven days on the plan |
| Ultra plan, $200 a month | $200 a month in API credits | Same rules as Max |
| Team plan | $20 per Standard seat, $100 per Premium seat, pooled up to $500 | Shared across the team |
| Free, Pro or Enterprise | None | Pro does not include API usage |
So the plan credits are not free in the strict sense. They come bundled with a subscription you already pay for.
What the plan credits can pay for
According to Anthropic's help article on monthly API credits, you claim them by linking one Console organization to your plan. They then cover:
- the Claude API, both Messages and Message Batches
- the Console Playground
- Managed Agents
- the Agent SDK
They do not cover interactive Claude Code, extra usage on your plan, or Claude through Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI or Microsoft Foundry. Unused credits do not roll over, and they are spent before any credits you bought. If they run out and you have no other credits, API requests stop until the next month instead of being charged to your plan.
What you pay after the free part
Once free credit is gone, every request costs tokens. Standard prices per million tokens as of November 2026:
- Claude Haiku 5.5: $0.10 in, $0.50 out (prompts up to 100,000 tokens)
- Claude Sonnet 5.5: $2 in, $10 out
- Claude Opus 5.5: $4 in, $20 out
- Claude Fable 5.1: $10 in, $50 out
The Batch API halves those rates for work that can wait. You pay by card or by buying credits on the Console billing page, and you can set your own monthly spend limit there so a runaway script cannot surprise you.
Where Claude Code fits
Claude Code is not free through the API either. On a Console key it bills the same per-token rates, and if ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set in your shell, Claude Code uses that key even when you also have a subscription. On Pro, Max or Ultra it draws on the plan's own allowance, which the plan API credits do not top up.
If you want to know what your coding would cost at API rates, UsageAtlas is the easiest check. The free, open-source desktop app reads your local Claude Code usage on Windows, macOS or Linux and estimates the cost per model, with no account needed and no access to your prompts or responses. Its numbers are estimates rather than a bill. For apps you build on the API, the usage page in the Claude Console is the record to watch instead.