Anthropic officially bans using subscription auth for third party use

Re:Anthropic officially bans using subscription auth for thi... by cma on Thursday February 19, 2026 @07:21AM (#47073029)

> Their costs are not magically lower when you use claude code vs when you use a third-party client.

If subsidizing that offering is a good hook to get higher paying API users on board, then some of that cost is a customer aquisition cost, whereas the cost to them of providing the API doesn't have the same proportion that they can justify as a customer acquisition cost.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Anthropic officially bans using subscription auth for thi... by rglullis on Thursday February 19, 2026 @07:28AM (#47073069)

I absolutely have zero concerns about their cost to acquire new customers. As a (former) customer, all I am concerned is the freedom to consume the service I am paying for however I see fit.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Anthropic officially bans using subscription auth for thi... by brookst on Thursday February 19, 2026 @07:43AM (#47073168)

Is there any service in the world that gives you complete freedom on how you consume it? I can’t think of one.

Netflix: limits number of devices and stream quality and offline use.

AWS: does not allow any number of applications (spamming, crypto mining, adult content)

Airlines: do not allow smoking, boom boxes

Is there any service that gives complete freedom?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Anthropic officially bans using subscription auth for thi... by rglullis on Thursday February 19, 2026 @08:53AM (#47073717)

I am not asking for "complete" freedom, am I? Can you please argue in good faith and not resort to cheap rhetoric tricks?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Anthropic officially bans using subscription auth for thi... by votepaunchy on Sunday February 22, 2026 @08:39AM (#47110916)

“the freedom to consume the service I am paying for however I see fit” sure sounds like complete freedom.

[ Parent | on HN ]