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Claude Code is not always billed per token: a Claude plan seat uses plan limits, while an API-key session incurs token-based charges. For API billing, prompt caching can lower the cost of repeated prompt prefixes, but it does not make them free or remove them from the context window. The cache’s five-minute or one-hour time-to-live (TTL) determines how long that reuse may remain available.
How is Claude Code token usage metered?
First identify how you signed in. Claude Code can use an eligible Claude plan seat or an API key. A plan seat draws on its included usage limits; API-key use is billed per token to the applicable account or provider. Anthropic explains the distinction in its Claude Code usage guidance and plan usage information.
For API billing, run /cost in Claude Code to see the current session’s token and dollar usage. It is not a universal per-token invoice for subscription-seat use. Plan capacity is governed by usage limits, and practical use varies with conversation length and complexity, model, and features; Anthropic does not publish a universal dollar conversion for plan usage equivalent to its API rates.
How much does Claude Code cost per token?
There is no single Claude Code rate per token. For API billing, the total depends on the model’s current input and output rates, the number of uncached input tokens, cache-write and cache-read tokens, output tokens, provider, and any applicable pricing modifiers. Anthropic’s API pricing page is the place to check current model-specific rates. The multipliers below describe cache treatment relative to base input pricing; they are not a complete estimate of a bill and do not describe subscription usage limits.
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- Read Before You Buy — No Video Output: These adapters support charging and USB 2.0 data transfer, but cannot transmit video signals. Except for standard USB webcams (which use USB data only), they are not compatible with HDMI/DisplayPort cables, video-capable USB-C hubs, or docking stations with video output.
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| API token category | Price relative to base input | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary input | 1× | Reference rate for the model’s input tokens. |
| Five-minute cache write | 1.25× | Writing a prefix to cache costs more than ordinary input. |
| One-hour cache write | 2× | The longer-lived cache write has the higher multiplier. |
| Cache read | 0.1× | Reading a cached prefix costs less than ordinary input in the cited standard tier. |
These are Anthropic’s published standard-tier API multipliers in its pricing documentation, current as of the documentation reviewed in 2026. Actual dollar amounts change with the model and token counts. Do not apply these API multipliers to a plan seat as though it generated the same per-token bill.
What is Claude Code’s cache TTL?
TTL means how long a cached prompt entry remains available for reuse. Anthropic’s prompt-caching documentation describes a default minimum cache lifetime of five minutes and an optional one-hour TTL. Each use refreshes the cache’s lifetime, so repeated activity can keep an entry available. The TTL changes whether a matching prefix can be reused and how its tokens are priced; it does not turn the prefix into free or context-free material.
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Does Claude Code use a 5-minute or 1-hour cache?
It can use either cache window. Five minutes is the default minimum lifetime in Anthropic’s documentation; one hour is an available longer option for requests that may be separated by a longer gap. The best fit depends on the expected spacing of repeated requests and the write/read mix: the one-hour write costs more, while repeated cache reads use the lower read rate. See Anthropic’s prompt-caching documentation for current behavior and configuration details.
When does the cache timer start?
The timer starts at the beginning of the request that writes or reads the entry, not after the response finishes. For example, if a response takes four minutes under a five-minute TTL, roughly one minute remains when it ends. A long generation can therefore use up much of the reuse window before the next request begins.
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- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (7-in-1), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
Does prompt caching make Claude Code free?
No. On API billing, a cache write has a price, and a cache read is charged at its published read rate. A matching repeated prefix may cost less to read than to send as ordinary input, but the rest of the request—including uncached input and output—still contributes to usage. On a Claude plan seat, usage is subject to plan limits rather than these API dollar multipliers.
Caching also does not shrink the context Claude Code carries. Anthropic’s Claude Code usage guidance says cached context still occupies context-window space on each message. Cache reuse changes billing treatment for matching prompt content, not how much of the context window that content uses.
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How Claude Code caching applies to CLAUDE.md
Anthropic’s Enterprise guidance on CLAUDE.md context files describes the file as a practical example of prompt caching: the first request in a session pays the full input price for the file, while subsequent turns within roughly five minutes can read it from cache at the lower cache-read rate. Editing the file invalidates the cached version, so the changed content must be written again. Keeping CLAUDE.md concise remains useful for context space and signal-to-noise, even when repeated API input charges are reduced.
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- Powerful Pass-Through Charging: Supports up to 85W pass-through charging so you can power up your laptop while you use the hub. Note: Pass-through charging requires a charger (not included). Note: To achieve full power for iPad, we recommend using a 45W wall charger.
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- What You Get: Anker 332 USB-C Hub (5-in-1), welcome guide, our worry-free 18-month warranty, and friendly customer service.
How to estimate API-billed Claude Code usage
- Confirm the billing route. Determine whether Claude Code is using a plan seat or an API key. Per-token API estimates apply to the latter.
- Identify the model and provider. Check the current model-specific rates and any provider or pricing modifiers on the applicable live pricing page.
- Separate token categories. Estimate uncached input, cache-write input, cache-read input, and output rather than treating all prompt tokens alike.
- Choose the likely TTL. Consider how long requests usually take and the gap before the next request. The one-hour write multiplier is higher than the five-minute write multiplier.
- Check actual session usage. For API billing, use
/costto inspect current-session token and dollar usage.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
