How to Use Claude Code Completely Free (2026)

How to Use Claude Code Completely Free in 2026

Claude Code is Anthropic's terminal-based AI coding agent. It reads your entire codebase, writes and edits files, runs commands, searches the web, and manages git -- all through natural language conversation in your terminal. It is one of the most powerful AI development tools available, but the default usage requires a paid Anthropic API key or a Claude subscription.

The good news is there are several legitimate ways to use Claude Code for free. This guide covers every method available as of early 2026.

What Is Claude Code?

Before diving into free access methods, here is what Claude Code can do:

Capability	Description
Code generation	Write new files, functions, and components from descriptions
Code editing	Modify existing files with precise, context-aware changes
Bug fixing	Identify and fix issues across your codebase
Refactoring	Restructure code while maintaining functionality
Git operations	Stage, commit, create branches, and manage PRs
Terminal commands	Run build tools, tests, linters, and scripts
Codebase search	Find relevant code across large projects
Multi-file editing	Make coordinated changes across many files at once
Web search	Look up documentation and current information

Claude Code uses Claude Sonnet 4 by default (with Claude Opus 4 available on higher tiers) and has access to your full project context through its tool-use capabilities.

Method 1: Anthropic API Free Credits

When you create a new Anthropic account, you receive a small amount of free API credits to explore the platform. You can use these credits with Claude Code.

Step 1: Create an Anthropic account

Go to console.anthropic.com and sign up.

Step 2: Get your API key

Navigate to API Keys and create a new key.

Step 3: Install Claude Code

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Step 4: Set your API key and launch

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
cd /path/to/your/project
claude

Limitations:

• Free credits are limited (typically $5 worth).
• Once credits are exhausted, you need to add a payment method.
• Credits may expire after a set period.

How far do $5 in credits go?

Model	Input (per 1M tokens)	Output (per 1M tokens)	Approx Messages on $5
Claude Sonnet 4	$3.00	$15.00	~50-100 interactions
Claude Haiku 3.5	$0.80	$4.00	~200-400 interactions

For a trial run, $5 gives you enough to evaluate whether Claude Code fits your workflow.

Method 2: Use Claude Code with Your Claude Pro/Max Subscription

If you already have a Claude Pro ($20/month) or Claude Max ($100-200/month) subscription, you can use Claude Code without any additional API costs. Your subscription covers the usage.

Step 1: Install Claude Code

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Step 2: Launch and authenticate

claude

On first launch, Claude Code will open a browser window for authentication. Log in with your Claude account that has an active Pro or Max subscription.

Usage limits by plan:

Plan	Claude Code Access	Model	Limits
Free	No	N/A	N/A
Pro ($20/mo)	Yes	Sonnet 4	Moderate usage limits
Max ($100/mo)	Yes	Sonnet 4 + Opus 4	High usage limits
Max ($200/mo)	Yes	Sonnet 4 + Opus 4	Very high usage limits

The Pro plan at $20/month provides solid Claude Code access for regular development work. If you are already paying for Claude Pro for the web interface, Claude Code access is effectively a free bonus.

Method 3: AWS Bedrock Free Tier

Amazon Bedrock offers Claude models, and new AWS accounts get free tier access. You can configure Claude Code to use Bedrock as its backend.

Step 1: Create an AWS account

Sign up at aws.amazon.com. New accounts get 12 months of free tier access for many services.

Step 2: Enable Claude on Bedrock

1. Go to the Amazon Bedrock console.
2. Navigate to Model Access.
3. Request access to Anthropic Claude models.
4. Wait for approval (usually instant).

Step 3: Configure AWS credentials

# Install AWS CLI
brew install awscli  # macOS
# or
pip install awscli

# Configure credentials
aws configure
# Enter your Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, and region

Step 4: Launch Claude Code with Bedrock

# Set the provider to Bedrock
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1
claude

Or use the CLI flag:

claude --provider bedrock

Bedrock free tier details:

AWS occasionally offers promotional free credits for Bedrock. Check the current Bedrock pricing page for active promotions. Even without a free tier, Bedrock pricing is competitive and you only pay for what you use.

Method 4: Google Cloud Vertex AI

Similar to Bedrock, Claude models are available on Google Cloud's Vertex AI. New Google Cloud accounts get $300 in free credits.

Step 1: Set up Google Cloud

1. Create a Google Cloud account at cloud.google.com.
2. Accept the $300 free trial.
3. Enable the Vertex AI API.
4. Request access to Claude models in the Model Garden.

Step 2: Configure authentication

# Install gcloud CLI
brew install google-cloud-sdk  # macOS

# Authenticate
gcloud auth application-default login

# Set your project
gcloud config set project your-project-id

Step 3: Launch Claude Code with Vertex AI

export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1
export CLOUD_ML_REGION=us-east5
claude

With $300 in free credits, you can run Claude Code extensively for several months of regular development work.

Method 5: GitHub Copilot Agent Mode with Claude

If you have access to GitHub Copilot (free for verified students and open-source maintainers), you can use Claude as a coding agent through Copilot's agent mode in VS Code.

How it works:

1. Install the GitHub Copilot extension in VS Code.
2. Open Copilot Chat (Cmd+Shift+I or Ctrl+Shift+I).
3. Switch to Agent mode.
4. Select Claude Sonnet as the model (if available in your plan).

This is not Claude Code directly, but it provides a similar agent-style coding experience powered by Claude within VS Code.

Who gets GitHub Copilot for free:

Eligible Group	How to Get It
Students	Verify with GitHub Education
Open-source maintainers	Automatic for popular repos
VS Code Insiders	Limited free access to Copilot

Method 6: Open-Source Alternatives

If none of the above methods work for your situation, consider open-source tools that provide a Claude Code-like experience using free local models:

Tool	Models	Experience
Aider	Any LLM (local or API)	Terminal-based, git integration
Continue	Any LLM	VS Code / JetBrains extension
Cline	Any LLM	VS Code extension, agent-style
Goose	Any LLM	Terminal-based agent

Using Aider with a free local model:

# Install Aider
pip install aider-chat

# Start Ollama with a coding model
ollama run qwen3:32b

# Launch Aider with the local model
aider --model ollama/qwen3:32b

This gives you a fully free, fully private coding assistant. The quality depends on the local model, but models like Qwen 3 32B and DeepSeek-V3 are surprisingly capable for coding tasks.

Comparison of Free Methods

Method	True Cost	Setup Difficulty	Quality	Limits
Anthropic free credits	$0 (limited)	Easy	Best (Sonnet 4)	~50-100 interactions
Claude Pro subscription	$20/mo (if you already have it)	Easy	Best (Sonnet 4)	Moderate
AWS Bedrock	$0 (with promotions)	Medium	Best (Sonnet 4)	Credit-based
Google Vertex AI	$0 ($300 credit)	Medium	Best (Sonnet 4)	$300 worth
GitHub Copilot	$0 (students/OSS)	Easy	Good (Sonnet 4)	Copilot limits
Local models (Aider)	$0 (truly free)	Medium	Good (varies)	Your hardware

Tips to Maximize Free Usage

1. Use Sonnet, not Opus. Claude Sonnet 4 is significantly cheaper per token than Opus 4 and handles most coding tasks equally well.
2. Be concise in your prompts. Shorter, more specific prompts use fewer input tokens.
3. Use /compact in Claude Code. This compresses the conversation context, reducing token usage.
4. Add a .claudeignore file. Exclude large files, build directories, and dependencies from Claude Code's context to reduce token consumption.

# .claudeignore
node_modules/
dist/
build/
.next/
*.min.js
*.map
package-lock.json

5. Batch related changes. Instead of making multiple small requests, describe all related changes in a single prompt.
6. Use --model to switch models. Use a cheaper model for simple tasks:

claude --model claude-haiku-3.5 "rename all instances of userId to user_id in this file"

Conclusion

Claude Code is one of the most capable AI coding tools available, and there are multiple legitimate paths to using it for free or near-free. The $300 Google Cloud credit offers the most generous runway, while Anthropic's own free credits provide the easiest setup. For a truly zero-cost option, pairing Aider with a local model like Qwen 3 gives you a solid coding assistant without any API dependencies.

If your development workflow extends into AI-powered creative work -- generating images, creating video content, building talking avatars, or synthesizing voice -- Hypereal AI offers affordable pay-as-you-go APIs for generative media that complement your coding tools without adding another expensive subscription.