Claude Code

github.com · CLI Tool · Terminal

Claude Code is a CLI tool that runs in the terminal: Command-line AI coding agent that understands your codebase and automates tasks via natural language. Its repository anthropics/claude-code carries 149,849 stars and 57 contributors. The latest stable release is v2.1.294, published 8 Oct 2026 with binaries for linux, macos, windows. npm served 14,786,283 downloads of @anthropic-ai/claude-code in the week we read. Anthropic collects usage data and `/bug` reports from Claude Code, and states it does not train on that feedback.

Stars: 149,849; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 8 Oct 2026; 0 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Latest stable release: v2.1.294; published 8 Oct 2026; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Contributors: 57; Verified 8 Oct 2026
npm downloads: 14,786,283 a week; @anthropic-ai/claude-code; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Repository: anthropics/claude-code; TypeScript; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Release binaries: linux, macos, windows; Verified 8 Oct 2026

Visit Claude Code anthropics/claude-code on GitHub Claude Code alternatives

What Claude Code is

Claude Code runs only Anthropic models: every alias — default, best, fable, sonnet, opus, haiku and opusplan — resolves to a Claude model, and changing the base URL moves where the request goes without changing which model answers it.

“ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL changes where requests are sent, not which model answers them.”

code.claude.com/docs/en

What Claude Code costs

Claude Pro costs $17 per month on the annual plan, $200 billed up front, or $20 per month billed monthly; Max starts at $100 per month.

“Per month with annual subscription discount ($200 billed up front). $20 if billed monthly.”

claude.com/pricing

Pro and Max subscribers do not pay per token for Claude Code; the usage sits inside the subscription.

“Claude Max and Pro subscribers have usage included in their subscription, so the session cost figure isn’t relevant for billing purposes.”

code.claude.com/docs/en

Use Claude Code when

Plan a change with Opus and execute it with Sonnet inside one session, by setting the model to `opusplan`.

“Special mode that uses opus during plan mode, then switches to sonnet for execution”

code.claude.com/docs/en

Run the agent on infrastructure your employer already approved: the model setting accepts an Amazon Bedrock inference profile ARN, a Microsoft Foundry deployment name, or a Google Cloud Agent Platform version name.

“Amazon Bedrock: an inference profile ARN”

code.claude.com/docs/en

Work one long task without losing history: `sonnet[1m]` gives a 1 million token context window, and auto-compaction runs below it.

“Uses Sonnet with a 1 million token context window for long sessions”

code.claude.com/docs/en

Not the right fit for

A developer who must run a local or self-hosted model should choose goose or Crush; both accept an Ollama endpoint.

“Local model runner supporting Qwen, Llama, DeepSeek, and other open-source models.”

goose-docs.ai/docs/getting-started

What Claude Code is bad at

You cannot audit, fork or patch the agent: the repository publishes the changelog, plugins and examples, not the CLI source, under an all-rights-reserved licence. GitHub Copilot CLI is the only other tool in this set that does the same.

“© Anthropic PBC. All rights reserved. Use is subject to Anthropic's [Commercial Terms of Service](https://www.anthropic.com/legal/commercial-terms).”

github.com/anthropics/claude-code

Subscribers report the plan limit arriving far earlier than the plan implies: the repository's most-commented open issue carries 1,487 comments and 724 reactions and has stayed open since 2026-01-03.

“[BUG] Instantly hitting usage limits with Max subscription”

github.com/anthropics/claude-code

On API-key billing the cost is per token, and Anthropic's own enterprise figure is $150-250 per developer per month.

“Across enterprise deployments, the average cost is around $13 per developer per active day and $150-250 per developer per month, with costs remaining below $30 per active day for 90% of users.”

code.claude.com/docs/en

Security and data handling

Anthropic collects usage data and `/bug` reports from Claude Code, and states it does not train on that feedback.

“We have implemented several safeguards to protect your data, including limited retention periods for sensitive information, restricted access to user session data, and clear policies against using feedback for model training.”

github.com/anthropics/claude-code

Technical details

Category: CLI Tool · Terminal
Repository: anthropics/claude-code
Default branch: main
Primary language: TypeScript
Repository created: 22 Feb 2025
Newest commit on the default branch: 8 Oct 2026
Package formats: tar.gz, zip
Architectures: arm64, x64, x86
Registries checked: npm:@anthropic-ai/claude-code,claude-code, homebrew:claude-code, vscode_marketplace:search(Claude Code)
Website check: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code answered HTTP 200

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How we check this page

Machine facts. Stars, licence, the newest commit on the default branch, the latest stable release and download counts are read straight from the GitHub API and from npm, PyPI, Homebrew and the VS Code Marketplace. Each one shows the day it was last confirmed, not the day this page was built. A failed fetch keeps the old value and its old date rather than overwriting it.
Judgments. Every claim about what a tool suits, what it is bad at and what it costs is quoted from a page we read, and that page is linked beside the claim. If there is no link, we did not write the claim.
What we do not publish. No score out of five and no star rating. Every other claim here traces to a source, and a number we could not justify would undermine the ones that can.
This tool. Every claim carries the URL it came from and a verbatim quote from that URL, read on 2026-08-19.