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AI Provider Costs

Understand the ongoing fees for your AI agent

Important: KatClaw is a one-time purchase, but your AI agent needs an AI provider to think. This is an ongoing cost — either a subscription or pay-as-you-go API usage. Choose the option that fits your budget and needs.

💳 Subscription Options

🧠 Claude Pro Recommended

$20/month

Anthropic's Claude is the best AI for coding and complex tasks. The Pro subscription gives you generous usage limits and access to the latest models.

Best overall experience. Ideal for daily use.

🧠 Claude Max

$100/month

For power users who need 5× the usage of Pro. Includes priority access during peak times.

Only if you hit Pro limits regularly.

🔑 Pay-As-You-Go API Keys

🔮 DeepSeek Budget Pick

~$5-20/month typical

Very affordable API pricing. Great reasoning capabilities at a fraction of the cost. Works in China without VPN.

$0.28/M input, $0.42/M output tokens

⚡ Grok (xAI)

Pay per use

Elon Musk's AI with real-time X/Twitter knowledge. 2M token context window — great for analyzing long documents.

Good for social media analysis.

✨ ChatGPT (OpenAI)

Pay per use

The original. GPT-4o is fast and capable. Good all-rounder with strong tool use.

Requires API key from platform.openai.com

🌙 Kimi (Moonshot)

~$10-30/month typical

256K context window. Affordable for heavy use. Works in China. Good for document analysis.

$0.60/M input, $2.50/M output tokens

🔀 OpenRouter Flexible

Pay per use (varies by model)

One API key, access to all frontier models — Claude, GPT, Gemini, Llama, and more. Perfect if you want to experiment or switch models without managing multiple accounts.

Unified billing. Try any model instantly.

🆓 Free Options

💎 Gemini Free Tier

FREE (with limits)

Google's AI has a generous free tier via AI Studio. Great for getting started without any cost.

Limited requests per minute. Good for light use.

🚀 Antigravity Free via Google

FREE (Google OAuth)

Access Claude and Gemini models through your Google account. No API key needed!

Uses Google OAuth. Easy setup.

💻 Local LLM Advanced

FREE (runs on your Mac)

Run AI models locally with LM Studio or Ollama. No internet needed. Complete privacy.

32GB RAM, M4 Max or better recommended.

💡 Our Recommendations

You can switch providers anytime in KatClaw. Start with a free option, then upgrade when you need more power. Your agent's memories and settings stay the same — only the "brain" changes.

* Pricing in USD as of Feb 2026. Prices may vary — check provider websites for current rates.

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