Claude Code has two usage modes: pay-per-token or subscription. Both modes are using API under the hood, but with subscription mode you are only paying a fixed amount a month.
Each subscription tier has some undisclosed limits, cheaper plans have lower usage limits.
So I would recommend paying $20 and trying the Claude Code via that subscription.
I’m looking for cursor alternatives after confusing pricing changes. Is Claude code an option? Can be integrated on an editor/ide for similar results?
My use case so far is usually requesting mechanic work I would rather describe than write myself like certain test suites, and sometimes discovery on messy code bases.
If you like an IDE, for example VS Code you can have the terminal open at the bottom and run Claude Code in that. You can put your instructions there and any edits it makes are visibile in the IDE immediately.
Personally I just keep a separate terminal open and have the terminal and VSCode open on two monitors - seems to work OK for me.
