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FREE Claude Code: How To Run Claude Code Without Paying

Julian Goldie · · 6 min read

FREE Claude Code is genuinely real — and most devs have no idea it exists.

Claude Code is brilliant.

It also costs £20-100+ per month for active users.

There's a free way.

This post breaks down the GitHub repo that reroutes Claude Code to free model providers — Nvidia NIM, OpenRouter free tier, or local LM Studio — and gives you Claude Code-equivalent capability for £0.

How FREE Claude Code Works

Claude Code talks to Anthropic's servers by default.

The "free claude code" GitHub repo intercepts those requests.

Instead of going to Anthropic, requests get routed to:

The model on the other end is GLM-4.7 — equivalent to Claude Opus quality.

You get the Claude Code interface and workflow.

You get top-tier model output.

You pay £0.

🔥 Want my full FREE Claude Code setup playbook? Inside the AI Profit Boardroom I've documented every step — repo install, Nvidia NIM key, model routing, Discord/Telegram bot setup. 2,800+ members already running this. Click below. → Get the FREE Claude Code playbook

The Setup In 6 Steps

Step 1. Clone the GitHub repo: git clone [free-claude-code repo URL].

Step 2. Copy example.env to .env.

Step 3. Sign up for Nvidia NIM — free key in 30 seconds.

Step 4. Paste the key into .env. Set model mappings:

MODEL_OPUS=nvidia_nim/Z-AI/GLM-4.7
MODEL_SONNET=nvidia_nim/Z-AI/GLM-4.7
MODEL_HAIKU=nvidia_nim/Z-AI/GLM-4.7

Step 5. Run the proxy server: uv run uvicorn server:app --port 8082.

Step 6. Launch Claude Code with custom env vars:

ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8082 ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=ccc claude

That's it. Claude Code now routes through GLM-4.7 free.

What You Can Build For Free

Same as paid Claude Code:

Same prompts as paid Claude Code. Same workflow. £0 cost.

For more on the model layer, my deepseek openclaw post covers the harness theory.

The Discord + Telegram Bot Layer

Beyond the proxy itself, the repo includes:

Discord bot. Send Claude Code prompts from Discord. Voice notes work — the bot transcribes, sends to Claude Code, returns the result.

Telegram bot. Same idea on Telegram.

What this means: you can code from your phone.

Walking the dog, idea hits, voice note to bot, code back in 5 minutes.

That mobility changes how you build.

For more on bot integration patterns, my hermes deepseek post covers Telegram bot setup.

When Free Claude Code Is Enough

Honest assessment.

It's enough for:

It struggles with:

For 80% of dev work, free is enough.

For the critical 20%, pay.

Mixing Providers

The repo supports per-model routing.

You can point:

This routing strategy lets you use the right model for each task while keeping cost at £0.

For the broader provider strategy, my hermes ai course post covers the model + harness pattern.

🔥 Want my dual provider routing config + Discord bot setup? Inside the AI Profit Boardroom I've put up the .env templates, the bot configs, and the production patterns for keeping your free Claude Code reliable. 2,800+ members already running these. Click below. → Get the configs + bot setup

VS Code Integration

Add Anthropic env vars to VS Code's settings.json.

Now your IDE's AI coding goes through the free proxy too.

Inline completions. Chat. Refactor suggestions.

All free.

Nice bonus on top of terminal Claude Code.

Real Business Use Cases

Coaching business onboarding system. Type: "Build me a client onboarding system. Welcome email, add to CRM, schedule kickoff, intake form." Claude Code builds it.

SEO keyword research tool. Type: "Build a Python script that scrapes Google search, pulls keywords, sorts by volume, exports to CSV."

E-commerce product description generator. Type: "Tool that takes product name, generates SEO descriptions, saves to file."

Each of these is 5-10 minutes of free Claude Code work.

For more on building tools specifically, my deepseek seo tool post covers the calculator pattern.

The Honest Trade-offs

Not perfect:

1. Rate limits. 40 req/min sounds like plenty. For heavy coding bursts, you wait a few seconds.

2. Model quality. GLM-4.7 is good but Opus 4.7 is sometimes better. Edge cases differ.

3. LM Studio needs hardware. If you go local, you need RAM + decent GPU.

4. Free tier might change. Nvidia / OpenRouter could rate-limit harder. Don't bet your business on free forever.

Despite these, for personal use the trade-off is wildly favourable.

FREE Claude Code FAQ

Is this safe to use?

Open source repo. Inspect the code. Active community.

Will my code be private?

Goes through Nvidia/OpenRouter servers. Same privacy profile as those services. LM Studio is fully local + private.

Does it work on Windows?

Yes via WSL2. Native Windows partial support.

How long does setup take?

5-10 minutes if you've done CLI setups before. 20-30 if it's new.

Will Anthropic block this?

The proxy doesn't actually use Anthropic — it just impersonates the API. Nothing for Anthropic to block.

What if Nvidia adds payment?

Switch to OpenRouter or LM Studio. Three providers, redundant.

Related Reading

Final Take

FREE Claude Code is real.

GitHub repo + Nvidia NIM key + 6 setup steps = paid Claude Code's capability for £0.

Mix providers. Add Discord bot. Code from your phone.

Most devs are paying £50-100/month for what this delivers free.

If you're building side projects, this is your stack.

🔥 Ready to install FREE Claude Code tonight? Get a FREE AI Course + Community + 1,000 AI Agents 👉 join here. Or grab the FREE Claude Code playbook inside the AI Profit Boardroom.

Learn how I make these videos 👉 aiprofitboardroom.com

Video notes + links to the tools 👉 skool.com/ai-profit-lab-7462

Free claude code is real — install it tonight.

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