The Free Claude Code
200+ AI Models · Zero Subscriptionn · Full Claude Code Workflow
Install once. Use forever. Free.
by Bestapps AI — Trusted by +150K AI Enthusiasts & 500+ AI Brands
⚡ Why this exists: Claude Code is the most powerful AI coding agent ever built. It reads your files. Writes your code. Builds your apps. Browses the web. Runs autonomously. It costs $200/month.
Someone just made it free.
OpenClaude is an open-source version of Claude Code that works with 200+ AI models — including ones you can run completely free on your own computer. This guide gets you set up in under 10 minutes.
📋 Table of Contents
🤯 What It Can Actually Do
You talk to it. It does the work. All of it.
This isn’t a chatbot. It reads your actual files, writes real code, browses live websites, and builds working things — all by itself.
💬 You say | ⚡ What happens |
|---|---|
“Turn this screenshot into a working website” | Reads the image, writes every file, builds it |
“Find the bug that’s crashing my app” | Reads your entire codebase, finds it, fixes it |
“Build me a personal finance tracker” | Full working app — in under 10 minutes |
“Scrape this website and save it to a spreadsheet” | Browses the page, pulls the data, saves the file |
“Summarize every contract in this folder” | Opens each file, reads it, writes the summary |
“Update my code to match the latest docs” | Fetches the docs, reads them, rewrites your code |
“Set up my entire project structure” | Creates every folder, file, and config — instantly |
“Review my code and find what’s wrong” | Reads everything, flags every issue, suggests fixes |
💡 The difference from regular AI: OpenClaude doesn’t just answer questions. It takes actions: reads files, writes files, runs commands, browses websites, exactly like a developer sitting at your computer would.
🛠️ Before You Start
You need two things before anything else. Takes 5 minutes.
Node.js — The Engine
Node.js is what runs OpenClaude. Without it, nothing works.
[ ] Go to nodejs.org
[ ] Click the big green Download button
[ ] Run the installer — click Next until it’s done
[ ] Open your terminal and confirm it worked:
node --version
✅ You should see something like v20.0.0 — if you do, you’re ready.
Your Terminal — Where You Type Commands
You already have one. Here’s how to open it:
💻 System | How to open |
|---|---|
Mac | Press |
Windows | Press the Windows key → type |
Linux | You already know 😄 |
💡 Never used a terminal before? Don’t worry. You only need to copy and paste the commands in this guide. That’s it.
⚙️ Installation — 3 Steps
Step 1 — Install OpenClaude 📥
Open your terminal and paste this exactly as written:
npm install -g @gitlawb/openclaude
Hit Enter. A lot of text will scroll by — that’s normal. Wait until it stops and your cursor comes back. Takes about 60 seconds.
⚠️ Getting a “permission denied” error on Mac or Linux? Add sudo in front:
sudo npm install -g @gitlawb/openclaude
Step 2 — Launch It 🚀
openclaude
Hit Enter. OpenClaude starts up. Now you need to connect it to an AI model — that’s Step 3.
Step 3 — Connect Your AI Model 🔌
Inside OpenClaude, type this and hit Enter:
/provider
This opens a guided setup. Jump to the next section and pick your model.
🤖 Choose Your AI Model
Pick one. You only need to set up one to get started.
Option A — OpenAI / GPT-5
Best for: people who already have an OpenAI account Cost: Pay per use (~$0.01–0.03 per task for most things)
[ ] Get your API key at: platform.openai.com/api-keys
[ ] In your terminal, paste these three lines one at a time:
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key-here
export OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-5
[ ] Then run
openclaudeagain
🔑 Replace sk-your-key-here with your actual key from OpenAI
Option B — Ollama (100% Free Forever) 🟢
Best for: anyone who wants zero costs — runs entirely on your own computer
Cost: Completely free. Nothing sent anywhere. No account needed.
[ ] Install Ollama at: ollama.com — download and run the installer
[ ] In your terminal, download a free coding model:
ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:7b
[ ] Then launch OpenClaude with these settings:
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434/v1
export OPENAI_MODEL=qwen2.5-coder:7b
openclaude
💡 What makes this special: The AI runs on your machine. Your code, your files, your conversations — nothing leaves your computer. Ever. And it costs nothing.
Option C — Google Gemini
Best for: people with a Google account — generous free tier available
Cost: Free tier available, then pay per use
[ ] Get your key at: aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
[ ] Start
openclaude[ ] Type
/providerand follow the steps — select Gemini, paste your key when asked ✅
Option D — DeepSeek 💪
Best for: developers who want strong coding results at very low cost
Cost: Cheaper than OpenAI for similar quality
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=your-deepseek-key
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.deepseek.com/v1
export OPENAI_MODEL=deepseek-chat
openclaude
Get your key at: platform.deepseek.com
🏆 Which Model Should I Pick?
Goal | Best Model |
|---|---|
Best overall results | GPT-5 or Claude |
Completely free | Ollama + qwen2.5-coder |
Already have Google account | Gemini |
Best for complex code | GPT-5 |
Privacy — nothing leaves your computer | Ollama |
💬 Practical Prompts — Copy & Use These
These are real prompts you can paste directly into OpenClaude right now. No setup needed beyond what you’ve already done.
🏗️ Building Things
Prompt 1 — Build a Landing Page
Create a modern landing page for [your product or idea].
Include: hero section with headline and CTA button,
3 features section, and a contact form.
Use clean HTML and CSS. Save it as index.html.
Make it look professional and mobile-friendly.
Prompt 2 — Build a Personal Dashboard
Build a simple personal dashboard I can open in my browser.
It should include:
- Today's date and time (updates live)
- A to-do list I can add and check off items
- A quick notes section
Save everything as dashboard.html with all CSS included in the file.
Prompt 3 — Build a Chrome Extension
Build a Chrome extension that [describe what you want it to do].
Create all the required files: manifest.json, popup.html, popup.js.
Make it simple and functional.
After building, explain what each file does and how to install it in Chrome.
🔍 Reading & Analyzing Code
Prompt 4 — Understand a Codebase
Read every file in this project folder.
Give me:
1. What this project does in plain English
2. A list of the main files and what each one does
3. Any obvious bugs, security issues, or problems you spot
4. The 3 most important things I should fix or improve first
Be specific. Reference actual file names and line numbers.
Prompt 5 — Find and Fix a Bug
My app crashes when [describe exactly what you do that causes the crash].
The error message says: [paste error message if you have one].
Read the relevant files, find the exact cause of the crash,
fix it, and explain in plain English what was wrong and why your fix works.
Prompt 6 — Code Review Before Shipping
Review all the code in this project before I ship it.
Check specifically for:
- Bugs that could break things in production
- Security vulnerabilities
- Performance issues
- Anything that looks wrong or inconsistent
List every issue you find with the file name, line number,
what the problem is, and how to fix it.
🌐 Web Research & Scraping
Prompt 7 — Scrape a Website
Go to this URL: [paste the website URL]
Extract all the [products / prices / names / contact info / whatever you need].
Clean the data — remove duplicates, fix formatting.
Save the results as data.csv with clear column headers.
Tell me how many records you found.
Prompt 8 — Research a Topic
Search the web for the latest information on: [your topic]
Read the top 5 most relevant results.
Write me a 300-word summary of the most important points.
Then give me:
- 3 key takeaways
- 2 things that surprised you
- 1 thing I should do with this information
Include links to your sources.
Prompt 9 — Competitor Research
Go to [competitor's website URL].
Read their homepage, pricing page, and features or product page.
Give me:
1. What they offer and who it's for
2. How they position themselves (what's their main message?)
3. Their pricing structure
4. What they do better than us
5. Where we have an advantage
My product: [describe your product in 2 sentences]
📁 File & Data Work
Prompt 10 — Organize a Messy Folder
Look at all the files in [folder path or describe the folder].
Create a logical folder structure that makes sense for this type of content.
Move each file to the right place.
Rename anything with confusing or unclear names.
After you're done, give me a summary of what you changed and why.
Prompt 11 — Convert & Clean Data
Read the file [filename].
Convert it from [CSV / JSON / Excel] to [the format you want].
While converting, clean up:
- Remove duplicate rows
- Fix inconsistent formatting (capitalization, dates, phone numbers)
- Fill in obvious blanks where possible
- Flag anything you couldn't fix
Save the clean version as [new filename].
Prompt 12 — Summarize Documents
Read [filename or folder name].
For each document give me:
1. A one-paragraph summary
2. The 5 most important points
3. Any deadlines, action items, or decisions mentioned
4. Anything that seems urgent or requires follow-up
Format it as a clean report I can share with my team.
⚡ Automation
Prompt 13 — Automate a Repetitive Task
I currently do this manually: [describe the task in detail —
what you do, how often, what tools you use, what the output looks like]
Write a script that automates this completely.
Use [Python / JavaScript — pick one or let it decide].
Make it easy to run with clear instructions.
Add comments explaining what each part does.
Test it and make sure it actually works before calling it done.
Prompt 14 — Build a Scheduled Script
Write a [Python / JavaScript] script that runs automatically
every [daily at 9am / every hour / every Monday].
It should: [describe exactly what it should do]
Save the output to [a file / send an email / print to terminal].
Include setup instructions so I can get it running on my computer.
📚 Commands Reference
These are commands you type directly inside OpenClaude after it starts:
Command | 💬 What it does |
|---|---|
| 🔌 Set up or switch your AI model |
| 🔍 Ask it to review the current code |
| 💾 Commit your changes to Git |
| 📊 Show what changed since last commit |
| 🗜️ Compress long conversation to save memory |
| 🩺 Diagnose setup issues |
| 🛑 Exit OpenClaude |
🆘 Troubleshooting
❌ “ripgrep not found”
OpenClaude uses a fast search tool called ripgrep. It’s missing. Fix it:
System | Command to run |
|---|---|
Mac |
|
Windows |
|
Linux |
|
After installing, close your terminal completely, reopen it, then try again.
❌ “command not found: openclaude”
npm installed it but your system can’t find it. Try running it this way instead:
npx @gitlawb/openclaude
Or reinstall and then restart your terminal:
npm install -g @gitlawb/openclaude
❌ “permission denied” (Mac or Linux)
sudo npm install -g @gitlawb/openclaude
😕 Results feel weak or unhelpful
Not all AI models are equally good at coding tasks. Switch to a stronger one:
Goal | Recommended model |
|---|---|
🏆 Best overall | GPT-5 |
💰 Best value | DeepSeek-chat |
🆓 Best free local | qwen2.5-coder:7b via Ollama |
🧠 Complex reasoning | GPT-5 or Gemini 3.1 Pro |
Run /provider inside OpenClaude to switch at any time.
⚡ Quick Setup Cheatsheet
Cut this out and keep it. Everything you need in one place.
# 1. Install
npm install -g @gitlawb/openclaude
# 2. Start
openclaude
# 3. Set up your model (run inside OpenClaude)
/provider
# --- OpenAI setup ---
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key
export OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-5
openclaude
# --- Free local setup (Ollama) ---
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434/v1
export OPENAI_MODEL=qwen2.5-coder:7b
openclaude
# --- DeepSeek setup ---
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=your-deepseek-key
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.deepseek.com/v1
export OPENAI_MODEL=deepseek-chat
openclaude
🚨 This is the $200/month tool. Now free. The same workflow developers pay for every month — the one that reads your files, writes your code, builds your apps, and browses the web autonomously — is now available to everyone.
You already have the guide. Now install it.
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