Claude Code or Claude: which one to buy
These two are not competitors and choosing between them is not a real decision: Claude Code has no separate subscription and will not start without a Claude plan or a console account. What you buy is Claude. Claude Code is what you install afterwards.
Specifications where both sides have a verified number
| Claude | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it ships | Web, iOS, Android, Desktop | Terminal CLI, VS Code, JetBrains, Desktop app, Web, Slack, GitHub Actions |
| Free tier | yes | no |
A row where one side has no verified number is left out entirely, because readers read a half-empty row in favour of the filled side.
Why the table above has two rows
Because one of these has a price of its own and the other does not. The Claude Pro plan is published on Anthropic page at twenty dollars a month; Claude Code carries no independent price, because its cost is that plan or your API usage. A price row only exists when both sides have a number, and here only one side does.
The availability row is where the real difference sits
Claude runs on web, iOS, Android and desktop: the place you sign into and talk to. Claude Code runs in the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, the desktop app, the browser, Slack and GitHub Actions: the thing that reads your repository, edits files and runs commands. One is a conversation, the other is an agent.
The right order
Subscription first, tool second. If you are a developer starting today, take the plan and then install Claude Code; installing is free and it wants that same account. And the first thing to do after installing is write a CLAUDE.md for your repository, not change the model.
Pick this if Claude
- Your work is writing, thinking, summarising and arguing, and a terminal plays no part in it.
- You want one project with its files and instructions to stay alive for weeks.
- You are starting out and want to see whether this suits you at all. There is a free tier.
Pick this if Claude Code
- You have a real repository and want files changed and commands run, not code to copy out.
- Your work happens in a terminal or an editor and you want the tool to live there.
- You have a lot of repetitive work: migrations, writing tests, the same rewrite across many files.
Questions people actually ask
Is Claude Code free
Installing it is free, but it does not work without a Claude plan or a console account. Its real cost is whichever subscription you put behind it.
Does one subscription cover both
Yes, the same plan opens both surfaces. That is why this comparison is not really about which to buy but about which to open when.