Anthropic tests Claude Code paywall

This looks less like a finished price hike and more like Anthropic testing how much developer backlash it can absorb before changing the packaging.

• –Claude Pro still shows “Includes Claude Code,” so saying the $20 plan is dead overstates the current state.
• –The real issue is sustainability: long-running coding agents burn far more compute than ordinary chatbot sessions.
• –If Claude Code moves meaningfully toward $100-plus tiers, solo developers, students, and lower-income markets will look harder at Codex, Gemini, Copilot, API billing, or local models.
• –Local models probably benefit from the resentment, but paid hosted tools still win when reliability, context, and integrated agent workflows matter more than raw monthly cost.