One day of tokens · checked November 2, 2026
How Much Does Claude Code Cost Per Day?
A daily cost is the API-equivalent of the tokens from that day, at public list rates. The three days below are illustrations on Sonnet 5.5. They are not Anthropic quotas. Price your own log for your number.
Claude Code cost per day, three illustrations
Each row prices uncached input, output, cache reads, and 1-hour cache writes on Claude Sonnet 5.5. Cache reads are the large token count. They are not billed at the input rate. Nothing here is an official allowance. The pricing table is the rate card.
| Day | Uncached input | Output | Cache reads | 1-hour writes | API-equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light day on Sonnet 5.5 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 1,200,000 | 60,000 | $0.70 |
| Medium day on Sonnet 5.5 | 40,000 | 90,000 | 6,000,000 | 350,000 | $2.98 |
| One heavy Claude Code day on Sonnet 5.5 | 85,000 | 220,000 | 18,000,000 | 1,200,000 | $8.97 |
For scale only, the plan stickers divided by 30 are about $0.67 (Claude Pro), $3.33 (Claude Max), $6.67 (Claude Ultra). A day under that line is not included usage. The comparison, including the Max 5× and $200 stickers, is on Claude Max vs API.
Light Claude Code day cost
A short session: a small uncached tail, a warm prompt cache, modest output, and one 1-hour cache write. An illustration, not a usage allowance.
| Token type | Tokens | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncached input | 20,000 | $2.00 / MTok | $0.04 |
| Cache reads | 1,200,000 | $0.10 / MTok | $0.12 |
| 1-hour cache writes | 60,000 | $4.00 / MTok | $0.24 |
| Output | 30,000 | $10.00 / MTok | $0.30 |
Medium Claude Code day cost
Several turns in one repo. Output, cache reads, and the 1-hour cache write are all larger than the light day. Still an illustration.
| Token type | Tokens | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncached input | 40,000 | $2.00 / MTok | $0.08 |
| Cache reads | 6,000,000 | $0.10 / MTok | $0.60 |
| 1-hour cache writes | 350,000 | $4.00 / MTok | $1.40 |
| Output | 90,000 | $10.00 / MTok | $0.90 |
Heavy Claude Code day cost
The same heavy day used on the homepage. Cache reads are most of the tokens. The 1-hour cache write is a large share of the dollars.
| Token type | Tokens | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncached input | 85,000 | $2.00 / MTok | $0.17 |
| Cache reads | 18,000,000 | $0.10 / MTok | $1.80 |
| 1-hour cache writes | 1,200,000 | $4.00 / MTok | $4.80 |
| Output | 220,000 | $10.00 / MTok | $2.20 |
How to estimate Claude Code cost per day from a JSONL log
Claude Code writes one append-only JSONL file per session under ~/.claude/projects/. Each project folder is the working directory with path separators replaced. If you set CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, start there instead. For one day, add the sessions you actually ran that day. Do not add the same file twice.
Open the Claude Code cost calculator and choose Paste or upload a log. Parsing uses the File API in the browser. Files over 30MB are refused. Split by session if you hit that cap. You do not need an API key, and the file is not uploaded.
One assistant reply is often several JSONL lines. They share message.id and requestId, and output_tokens grows until the last line. The parser keeps the largest output count for that pair so the reply is not priced once per partial line. Only assistant records carry usage. Subagent turns stay in, because they are real spend.
Keep cache reads and cache writes apart from input_tokens. If the log has no 5-minute / 1-hour split, writes use the cheaper 5-minute rate, which can understate Claude Code. The how to estimate page walks through that file in more detail. The FAQ covers the same limits in short answers.
Why cache reads change the daily cost
On the heavy illustration, cache reads are 92% of the tokens. Pricing every token as uncached input produces $39.01 instead of $8.97. The same shape, a large cache read plus a smaller 1-hour write, is what makes a Claude Code day look expensive if you only multiply a single “tokens” number by the input rate. Use the split.
Price your own Claude Code day
The illustrations are round token mixes so the arithmetic is visible. Your day will not match them. Open the calculator, enter the four token counts, or drop the JSONL log. Switch the model if the session was not Sonnet 5.5. Opus vs Sonnet coding cost shows the same heavy mix on both cards.