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How to get a Claude API key
Claude API keys come from the Claude Console, Anthropic’s platform for developers, which is separate from the Claude chat app. You make the key on the Console’s API keys page, then pay for what you use, per token, with credits bought in the Console. A Claude Pro subscription doesn’t include API use.
Checked October 20, 2026 against Anthropic’s API key guide, rate limits and billing help · prices checked October 13, 2026. Model Cost Check is built with Claude, so this page sticks to Anthropic’s own documents.
Get your key in four steps
- Sign in to the Claude Console at platform.claude.com, or create an account there.
- Open the API keys page (platform.claude.com/settings/keys).
- Click Create key. Give the key a name, choose when it expires, and set Linked account to yourself or to a service account. You can also limit the key to one workspace.
- Copy the key and store it safely, for example in a secrets manager. The key starts with
sk-ant-, and the Console shows it only once. If you lose it, you can’t view it again: create a new key instead.
If the Create key button is grayed out, your role in the organization may not allow new keys. Anthropic’s advice is to ask an organization admin to change your role or create a service account key for you.
To use the key, save it as the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable. Anthropic’s SDKs read it from there automatically, and its quickstart walks through a first request.
Personal, service account or workspace key?
When you create a key you pick its type. A personal key acts as you and stops working if you leave the organization. A service account key belongs to a service account and is meant for shared work such as production apps, build pipelines or agents. A workspace key is the older kind with no owner, which keeps working after the person who made it leaves. Anthropic recommends personal keys for your own development and service account keys for anything shared, because both stop working when their account is removed.
Add credits before your first request
Most organizations pay with prepaid credits. Someone with the Admin or Billing role goes to the Billing page (platform.claude.com/settings/billing), clicks Buy credits and enters an amount; the credits can be used straight away. Anthropic’s pricing page adds that new users get a small amount of free credits to test the API.
- You’re billed only for successful requests. A request that was on track to succeed is still charged if your app disconnects or times out partway through.
- When the credits run out, the API and the Console’s playground stop working until you add more.
- Auto-reload buys more credits whenever your balance falls below a level you set.
- Purchased credits expire one year after you buy them, and they’re non-refundable.
- Organizations that arrange invoicing with Anthropic’s sales team are billed monthly instead.
What the key costs to use
Every request is billed per token at the model’s price. Current Claude models, US dollars per 1M tokens:
| Model | Input | Cached input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5.1 | $10.00 | $0.25 | $50.00 |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | $4.00 | $0.20 | $20.00 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $2.00 | $0.10 | $10.00 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | $0.10 | $0.01 | $0.50 |
From Anthropic’s pricing page, checked October 13, 2026. Batch requests cost half, and some models charge more for very long prompts: see Claude API pricing for every model and rule.
Claude Pro, Max and the API
A paid Claude subscription and the API are separate products, Anthropic’s help center explains: a subscription improves the chat apps, and API use is billed on its own. If you want both, you sign up for a plan and set up a Console account separately.
Two plan types come with monthly API credits, according to Anthropic’s API credits page (October 20, 2026):
- Max: $100 of API credits a month on Max 5x, $200 on Max 20x.
- Team: $20 per standard seat and $100 per premium seat, pooled into one balance of up to $500 a month.
You claim them by linking a Console organization to your plan, after 7 days on it. They cover the Claude API, Managed Agents, the Agent SDK and the playground, but not Claude Code or extra usage in the Claude apps. Unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle. Free, Pro and Enterprise plans don’t get them.
Rate limits and spend limits
Anthropic places each organization on a usage tier and moves it up over time as it uses the API. New organizations may start on an Evaluation tier with lower limits while they build a history. Your tier and current limits are on the Console’s Rate limits page (platform.claude.com/usage/limits), where you can also request a higher tier.
Each tier has a monthly spend cap: $500 on Start, $1,000 on Build and $200,000 on Scale; the Custom tier has none. If you reach it, requests stop until 00:00 UTC on the first day of the next month, unless you move up a tier. You can also set your own, lower spend limit on the Billing page.
| Tier | Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5 (each) | Fable 5.1 and Fable 5 (together) |
|---|---|---|
| Start | 1,000 / 2,000,000 / 400,000 | 1,000 / 500,000 / 100,000 |
| Build | 5,000 / 5,000,000 / 1,000,000 | 2,000 / 1,500,000 / 300,000 |
| Scale | 10,000 / 10,000,000 / 2,000,000 | 4,000 / 4,000,000 / 800,000 |
From Anthropic’s rate limits page, October 20, 2026. For most Claude models, input read from the prompt cache doesn’t count toward the input-tokens limit, so caching repeated text lets you send more.
Your API key and Claude Code
You don’t need an API key for Claude Code if you have a Pro or Max plan: you log in with your Claude account and use the plan’s included usage. With a Console account instead, Claude Code bills per token at API prices, and purchased credits cover it. Monthly API credits from Max or Team plans don’t.
One thing to watch: if the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set on your computer, Claude Code uses that key instead of your subscription, so your work is charged at API rates, Anthropic’s help center warns. See Claude Code pricing to compare the two ways to pay.
Keep the key safe
Anyone with your key can run up charges on your account, so Anthropic’s key safety guide treats it like a credit card number:
- Never share it or paste it into code, emails or support tickets. Keep it in an environment variable or a secrets manager.
- Use separate keys for development, testing and production, so you can turn one off without stopping the rest.
- Rotate keys on a schedule (Anthropic’s example is every 90 days) and keep an eye on the Console’s Usage and Logs pages.
- If a key turns up in a public GitHub repository, GitHub tells Anthropic, which turns the key off and emails you.
- If you think a key has leaked, delete it on the API keys page and create a new one.
Estimate your Claude API bill
Choose models
- Turn on JavaScript to see the costs. The price tables below work without it.
Questions
Is the Claude API free?
No. Requests are billed per token, starting at $0.10 per million input tokens on Claude Haiku 5.5. Anthropic gives new users a small amount of free credits to test the API, and Max and Team plans include monthly API credits.
Does Claude Pro include API access?
No. Pro covers the Claude apps and Claude Code, and the API is billed separately. Max and Team plans include monthly API credits that you claim by linking a Console organization; Pro doesn’t.
Do I need an API key to use Claude Code?
Not with a Pro or Max plan: log in with your Claude account. A Console account is for paying per token instead, which Anthropic suggests for intensive coding sprints.
Where do I find my Claude API key?
Your keys are listed on the Console’s API keys page, but the full key is shown only once, when you create it. If you didn’t save it, create a new key, and delete the old one if nothing uses it.
What is the Claude API?
It’s how developers use Claude models in their own apps, scripts and agents, rather than in the Claude chat app. You send requests with your API key and pay for the tokens each one uses.
What is the Claude Console?
Anthropic’s developer platform at platform.claude.com, where you create API keys, add people to your team, set up billing and try Claude in the playground, its help center says.
How do I check my API usage and spending?
In the Console: the Usage page shows tokens, requests and how close you are to your rate limits, the Cost page tracks spending, and the Billing page shows your credit balance.
Sources
- Anthropic: Get your Claude API key (steps, key types, using the key)
- Anthropic: Rate limits (tiers, spend caps, limits per minute)
- Anthropic: API credits for Max and Team plans
- Anthropic: Pricing (token prices, checked October 13, 2026; free credits for new users)
- Anthropic help center: How do I pay for my API usage?, why API use is billed separately from a paid plan, Claude Code with a Pro or Max plan and API key best practices
- All read October 20, 2026. Copies are kept with our price records.