Summary: A hands-on guide to run a free, open-source Cloud Code proxy that lets you use alternative LLM back-ends (OpenRouter, NVIDIA NIM, Olama) through the Cloud Code interface, cutting costs while preserving most functionality.
– Install and run the free-cloud-code proxy and edit the .env to route requests.
– Configure OpenRouter (DeepSeek V4), NVIDIA NIM, or Olama with API keys.
– Live demo: build and refine a habit-tracker, with notes on cost vs. quality trade-offs.
Quotes:
I literally did so for like several hundred times less money than I would pay to Anthropic.
Use the exact same Cloud Code interface — same terminal and same commands — with much cheaper back-ends.
OpenRouter can get models down to like $0.14 per million tokens — a far cry from $25 per million.
Statistics
| Upload date: | 2026-05-02 |
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| Likes: | 186 |
| Comments: | 39 |
| Statistics updated: | 2026-05-02 |
Specification: How to Use Claude Code for FREE (2026)
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