No, Claude Code is not free to use: Anthropic’s Free Claude plan does not include it, so you need a paid Claude subscription or pay-as-you-go API credits.
As of October 31, 2026, Claude’s pricing page lists Claude Code on the Pro plan ($20 a month billed monthly, or $17 a month with annual billing), the Max plan ($100 a month with 5x Pro usage) and the Ultra plan ($200 a month with 10x Pro weekly usage and no 5-hour limit for verified accounts). Team and Enterprise plans also include it.
You install Claude Code, then sign in with your Claude account in the terminal or in supported IDEs such as VS Code, Cursor and JetBrains. Its usage draws on the same limits as the Claude apps. Alternatively, you can log in with a Claude Console account and pay standard API rates. If an ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set, Claude Code bills that API key instead of your subscription.
The monthly API credits bundled with Max and Ultra cannot be spent in Claude Code.
Related: our Claude Code power-user guide and Claude Pro vs Max: what is the difference?
Source: Claude, “Pricing”; Claude Help Center, “Use Claude Code with your Pro, Max, or Ultra plan”
Image: Claude logo by Anthropic, public domain (trademarked), via Wikimedia Commons. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic.