OpenCode vs Claude Code: models, price and license

OpenCode vs Claude Code at a glance

The two agents do the same basic job: they read your code, edit files and run commands for you.

	OpenCode	Claude Code
Made by	Anomaly, with an open source community	Anthropic
License	MIT	Proprietary, under Anthropic's Commercial Terms
Price of the agent	Free	Included with Claude Pro ($20 a month) and Max ($100 or $200), or pay per use with an Anthropic Console account
Models	Any of 75+ providers, local models, or OpenCode's Zen and Go	Claude models, through Anthropic or cloud providers like Amazon Bedrock
Subscriptions you can sign in with	ChatGPT Plus, GitHub Copilot, GitLab Duo	Claude Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise
Where it runs	Terminal, desktop app, web, IDE extension	Terminal, IDE extensions, desktop app, browser
Cloud sessions on the maker's machines	Not part of OpenCode's plans	Yes, on Pro, Max and Team

Which models can each one use?

OpenCode runs almost any model, and Claude Code is built for Claude.

OpenCode connects to 75+ LLM providers through Models.dev, including local models, and you can sign in with a ChatGPT Plus or Pro account or GitHub Copilot. An Anthropic API key works too. What doesn't work is a Claude subscription: OpenCode's providers docs say plugins that let you use Claude Pro or Max in OpenCode exist, that "Anthropic explicitly prohibits this", and that OpenCode stopped bundling them in version 1.3.0.

Claude Code signs in with a Claude plan or an Anthropic Console account. Its docs also support Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud's Agent Platform and Microsoft Foundry, and LLM gateways through ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL. That last setting is how other models get in. OpenCode's own docs show Claude Code running on OpenCode Go, with models like MiniMax M3 mapped to Claude Code's model aliases.

So you can run open-weight models in either agent. You can only run your Claude subscription in one of them.

How much does each one cost?

OpenCode costs nothing, and you pay whichever model provider you connect. Claude Code comes with a Claude plan, so the plan is the price.

	OpenCode	Claude Code
The agent	Free	Part of a Claude plan
Lowest paid option	OpenCode Go, $10 a month for 30 models	Claude Pro, $20 a month or $17 a month billed yearly
Heavier use	Go Plus, $40 a month	Claude Max, $100 or $200 a month
Pay per use	Zen, or any provider's API	Anthropic Console, or usage credits on Pro and Max
Free models	Yes, a few, such as Big Pickle	No; the Free Claude plan doesn't include Claude Code

On a Claude plan, Claude Code shares one set of limits with your chats in Claude: a five-hour session limit and a weekly limit, according to Anthropic's support article. On OpenCode Go, each model has its own monthly dollar allowance, split into 5-hour and weekly windows.

Where does each one run?

Both run on your computer, and Claude Code can also run in Anthropic's cloud. OpenCode is a terminal interface, a desktop app, a web app and an IDE extension, and it can run several agents in parallel on one project.

The cloud is where Claude Code goes further. Its cloud sessions run in isolated, Anthropic-managed VMs on Pro, Max and Team plans, keep going after you close your laptop, push branches to GitHub, and can open a pull request. With auto-fix on, Claude watches the pull request and pushes fixes for failing checks and review comments. Those sessions count against your plan's limits, and there's no extra charge for the VM.

Which should you pick?

I'd pick Claude Code if you already pay for Claude and mostly want Claude's models, because your subscription only works there. I'd pick OpenCode if you want to choose models freely, run open-weight models at a low monthly price, or keep your tools open source.

If you're on a tight budget, OpenCode with Go at $10 is the lower-priced of the two, with 30 models in the plan. If you want work to keep running in the cloud after you close your laptop, Claude Code's cloud sessions do that on the plan you already pay for.

Where Buildful fits

With both of these, you steer the agent while it works. Buildful works the other way round, as a background coding agent: you describe a task, such as a bug fix or a new page, and it comes back as a tested pull request on your GitHub repo, built in a private cloud sandbox with your checks run and UI changes tested in a real browser.

Buildful Pro is $10 a month for 1,000 tasks, or ₹750 in India, and Team is $40 a month for 3,000 tasks shared by unlimited members (₹3,500 in India). Smart Mode picks the right open-weight model for each task, and you can pick a frontier model like Claude yourself, with prepaid credit or your own Anthropic API key. The Buildful vs Claude Code page compares the two directly.

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenCode better than Claude Code?

Neither is better for everyone. OpenCode is the stronger choice for model freedom and open source. Claude Code is the stronger choice if you pay for Claude, because your Claude subscription works there and not in OpenCode, and because cloud sessions come with the plan.

Can I use my Claude Pro or Max subscription in OpenCode?

No. OpenCode's docs say Anthropic prohibits using Claude Pro or Max in OpenCode, and OpenCode no longer ships the plugins that did it. You can still use Claude models in OpenCode with an Anthropic API key, which is billed separately.

Is OpenCode free?

Yes. OpenCode is free and open source under the MIT License, and it comes with a few free models. You pay only for the model providers you connect, or for OpenCode Go or Zen if you use them.

Is Claude Code open source?

Can Claude Code use models other than Claude?

Not out of the box. Claude Code can point at an LLM gateway with ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, and OpenCode documents how to use that to run Go and Console models, including GPT and open-weight models, in Claude Code. Cloud sessions still need an Anthropic account.

OpenCode vs Claude Code: models, price and license compared