Cost Guide

Make cost decisions obvious in one screen.

Last verified: 2026-04-06
Minimum $20 Claude Pro only
Recommended ~$44/mo Pro + DO droplet
With Block 10 ~$45-50 Adds API key

At A Glance

Item Cost Required?
Claude Pro $20/mo Yes
DO droplet (s-2vcpu-4gb) $24/mo Blocks 7, 12
Anthropic API key ~$1-5 total Block 10 only
Domain ~$10/yr Optional

DigitalOcean gives new accounts $200 in free credit (60 days) – enough to cover the entire course.

Required Costs

Claude Pro ($20/mo)

  • Included: Claude Code in terminal, IDE, desktop, and web
  • Models: Sonnet (default) + Haiku
  • Usage: metered, shared with Claude chat – not unlimited
  • Opus: available on Max plan ($100/mo), not Pro
  • Details at anthropic.com/pricing

DigitalOcean Droplet ($24/mo)

  • s-2vcpu-4gb – locked recommendation, do not go smaller
  • New accounts get $200 free credit (valid 60 days)
  • Tear down after the course to stop charges – your code lives in git, the droplet is disposable

Optional Costs

Optional

Block 10 API key

~$1-5 total. Pay-per-token for the Claude GitHub Action. Skip Block 10 entirely if you want to avoid this cost.

Optional

Domain

~$10/yr. Not needed for the course.

Which Plan Do I Need?

Plan Price What you get in Claude Code
Pro $20/mo Sonnet + Haiku – sufficient for the whole course
Max $100/mo Opus access, higher limits – for heavy usage
Team varies Depends on seat type – see caveat below

Team plans: Standard Team seats do not include Claude Code. Check with your admin or see Anthropic’s Team plan docs before purchasing.

API Pricing

Approximate rates as of April 2026 – these are volatile and may change.

Model Input Output
Claude Sonnet $3/MTok $15/MTok
Claude Opus $15/MTok $75/MTok
Claude Haiku $0.80/MTok $4/MTok

Always check anthropic.com/pricing for current rates.

How To Spend Less

  • /compact often – compresses conversation, saves tokens
  • --model haiku for simple tasks
  • /clear between unrelated tasks
  • --max-turns in scripts to cap iterations
  • /cost in session to check spend

Budget Paths

$20 path

Pro only. Skip DO blocks (7, 12). Focus on learning Claude Code features, hooks, MCP, and agents locally.

$25-45 path

Full course. Pro + DO droplet. With free credit the real cost is closer to ~$20 for the first two months.

Team / company path

Max or Team plan, company covers infra. Use your org’s cloud account for the droplet.

Need a tailored path? Get mentoring.