Anthropic: Developing a Claude Code competitor using Claude Code is banned

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Scope of the Clause and What’s Actually Banned

  • The highlighted ToS language forbids using Anthropic’s services to “develop any products or services that compete” with them.
  • Some interpret this narrowly as blocking model distillation and direct chatbot competitors; others read it broadly enough that Anthropic could later launch a product in your niche and retroactively make your use non‑compliant.
  • There is confusion between two issues:
    • Using Claude Code to develop a competitor (disallowed in ToS).
    • Integrating Anthropic’s API into third‑party tools (explicitly welcomed, if done via normal API, not OAuth hijacks).

OAuth Harnesses, Max Plan, and Rate-Limit Hijacking

  • Third‑party “harnesses” have been using Claude Code OAuth tokens and Max subscriptions as de‑facto API keys, bypassing metered API billing and telemetry.
  • Many commenters see blocking this as reasonable: consumer subs are loss-leaders and designed for interactive use, not as bulk inference backends.
  • Others argue Anthropic could have coordinated with tool makers (as another vendor has started doing) instead of abruptly breaking them.

Comparisons to Other Tools and Noncompete Concerns

  • Multiple people compare the clause to forbidding use of Visual Studio/Xcode to build competing IDEs or compilers, calling it unprecedented for core dev tools.
  • Some note similar “no competing service” clauses exist in other SaaS agreements, but others counter that major AI providers generally don’t go this far.

Legality, Enforceability, and Regional Issues

  • Several commenters suggest such clauses might be void as anti‑competitive in parts of the EU, though details are unclear.
  • Even if unenforceable in court, Anthropic can still terminate accounts or block access, making reliance risky.

IP, Hypocrisy, and Surveillance Fears

  • Many highlight perceived hypocrisy: models trained on massive unlicensed datasets now prohibiting “stealing from the thief.”
  • Some worry Anthropic could use server-side logs or even model instructions to flag users building competitors, framing this as a surveillance risk.

Business Strategy, Moat, and Developer Backlash

  • Widespread belief that Claude Code/Max are subsidized to drive ecosystem lock-in; using them via neutral aggregators (e.g., multi‑model coding agents) undermines that strategy.
  • Several developers state they’re canceling subscriptions or moving to OpenCode, other providers, or local/open‑weight models due to trust erosion.
  • A minority view is that this is a “nothingburger” standard lawyer clause, overblown by social-media drama, and likely to be revised once pushback solidifies.