Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the Claude chatbot, is ending support for the popular third-party AI agent platform OpenClaw on its subscription plans. The change, announced on Friday, will take effect from 12 p.m. PT on Saturday.
Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code, stated on X that the move is a response to the "compute demand" Anthropic is experiencing from users. Claude subscriptions will no longer support third-party tools like OpenClaw, requiring users to instead pay through discounted "extra usage bundles" tied to their login or use a separate Claude API key via Anthropic's developer platform.
Capacity Strains Drive Policy Shift
An Anthropic spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that using Claude subscriptions with third-party tools violates the company's terms of service, describing such tools as placing an "outsized strain on our systems."
Claude's popularity has surged recently, briefly topping the US Apple App Store charts in March. Last week, the company was forced to adjust usage limits for subscribers due to unprecedented demand.
"Our subscriptions weren't built for the usage patterns of these third-party tools. Capacity is a resource we manage thoughtfully and we are prioritizing our customers using our products and API," Cherny wrote in his social media post.
OpenClaw Creator Criticises Timing
Peter Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw, said he and OpenClaw foundation board member Dave Morin attempted to "talk sense into Anthropic" and delayed the implementation by one week. He criticised the company for announcing the change on a Friday evening.
"We told Anthropic that we have many users who only signed up for their sub because of OpenClaw and that it'd be a loss if they cut them off," Steinberger told Business Insider via text message.
The Rise of AI Agent Platforms
OpenClaw is a rapidly growing platform that connects to AI models like Claude, allowing users to deploy personal AI assistants capable of carrying out tasks across other applications and workflows. Its popularity has fuelled a broader trend, with some users creating multiple agents to handle administrative work and personal logistics.
Anthropic is not alone in restricting third-party tool access. Google recently took similar action against users of its Gemini AI who employed unauthorised tools, framing it as a terms of service violation rather than a capacity issue.