Is Claude Code free?

No. As of October 2026, Claude Code isn't included in Claude's free plan: Anthropic's setup docs say it requires a Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise or Console account. The cheapest way in is Pro, at $17 a month billed annually or $20 monthly, and Claude Code shares Pro's usage limits with chat. The CLI and the VS Code extension are free to download but need one of those plans to run. The ways to try it without paying are narrower: a seven-day guest pass from a Pro or Max subscriber, Ollama, which points Claude Code at open models (a setup Anthropic doesn't support), or a hosted tool such as Poly, whose free tier runs Claude Code with Claude Sonnet 5.5 in a browser.

Key takeaways

• Claude's free plan has no Claude Code. Pro, at $17 to $20 a month, is the cheapest plan that includes it.
• There's no individual student discount. Claude for Teachers is free for a year for verified US K-12 teachers.
• Ollama runs Claude Code against open models for free on your own computer; they aren't Claude, and Anthropic doesn't support it.
• Poly's free tier runs the real Claude Code with Sonnet 5.5, with 50 credits and no card.

Which Claude plans include Claude Code?

Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. Anthropic's pricing page says Claude Code is included in all paid plans and shares the same usage limits as the rest of your plan, so heavy coding uses up the same allowance as chat. Every Team seat includes it, standard seats too, and so does the single seat on new Enterprise plans. Older Enterprise contracts include it only on certain seats.

One billing trap: if the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set on your computer, Claude Code bills that key at API rates instead of using your subscription (Anthropic).

For a team, the options and prices are in Claude Code for teams.

Is there a free trial of Claude Code?

Not a self-serve one; trials are listed only for sales-assisted Enterprise. The one official free route is a guest pass: eligible Pro and Max subscribers can give someone seven days of Pro, including Claude Code. The recipient must be new to paid plans and enter payment details, and the pass turns into a paid Pro plan unless they cancel (Anthropic).

Paying per token through the Claude Console works too, but we found no free API credits on Anthropic's current pages; its billing help describes only prepaid credits and invoicing.

Is Claude Code free for students?

No. Anthropic offers no individual student discount or free Claude Code as of October 2026. Its education plans are sold to institutions, so whether a student gets Claude Code depends on their school. The Claude Campus Program pays ambassadors and club leads a stipend, and applications for Fall 2026 have closed. Claude for Teachers, free for one year for verified US K-12 teachers who sign up by June 30, 2027, includes Claude Code, but it is for educators, not students.

Can you use Claude Code free with Ollama?

With caveats. Since version 0.14, in January 2026, Ollama has accepted Anthropic's Messages API, so Claude Code can run against models Ollama serves, and ollama launch claude sets it up (Ollama). Models running on your own computer are free; Ollama's cloud models use credits, from a free starter amount to $20 a month. Two catches: the model doing the work isn't Claude, and Anthropic says it doesn't support routing Claude Code to non-Claude models (Anthropic). Ollama recommends a context window of at least 64,000 tokens for large repositories.

Is Claude Code free in VS Code?

The extension is free to install, but it needs a paid Claude subscription or a Console account to work (docs). The same goes for Claude Code in the desktop app and on the web: free users see an upgrade prompt.

Is Claude Code open source?

No. The CLI is a free download, but its license reads "All rights reserved," with use subject to Anthropic's Commercial Terms. Anthropic's public GitHub repository holds plugins, examples and the issue tracker, not the CLI's source.

How can you use Claude Code free in a browser?

Poly (usepoly.co) runs the real Claude Code in a sandbox on its servers, inside a browser room. The free tier includes Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5, plus a free model from each of the other labs, with 50 credits and no card. There's nothing to install, and you can invite someone to work in the same room. When the credits run out, Pro is $20 a month and Max $50.

To be clear about the trade: 50 credits is a taste. For one person who wants to use Claude Code every day, a Claude Pro plan buys far more. Poly is built for working with Claude Code together. What is Poly?