Last updated: March 2026
Overclock is a desktop AI coding IDE that uses a Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) model. Users provide their own Anthropic API key and access Claude models (Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4.6, Haiku 4.5) directly at Anthropic’s published rates, with no markup. Overclock charges a flat €12/month software subscription.
Overclock is available for Windows (x64), macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), and Linux (x64). It is built with Tauri v2 for a lightweight ~10 MB download.
BYOK means you use your own Anthropic API key to access Claude models. Overclock does not proxy, resell, or mark up API calls. Your API key is stored in your operating system’s secure keychain and used to call Anthropic’s API directly.
You need an internet connection for AI agent features (they call the Anthropic API). The code editor and terminal work fully offline.
Overclock’s software subscription costs €12/month or €99/year. API costs are separate — you pay Anthropic directly at their published rates. A free trial with 7 agent prompts is available with no credit card required.
As of March 2026:
Overclock costs €12/month (~$13) for the software subscription, plus whatever you spend on Claude API calls — billed directly to your Anthropic account with no markup.
Cursor Pro costs $20/month for $20 in API credits. Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.00 per request in Cursor’s system, meaning Cursor Pro covers approximately 4 Opus 4.6 agent sessions before your $20 credit pool is exhausted. Additional sessions are $5 each.
Windsurf Pro changed pricing in March 2026: it moved from a $15/month credit-pool model to a $20/month quota-based model with daily and weekly refresh limits. Claude Opus 4.6 costs 2× the standard quota multiplier. You can no longer sprint through your entire monthly allowance on one big project.
Overclock is always cheaper than Cursor for any Opus 4.6 usage. At 10 sessions per month: Overclock ≈ $15.85 total, Cursor ≈ $50. At 30 sessions: Overclock ≈ $21.55, Cursor ≈ $150.
| Feature | Overclock | Cursor | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | €12/month | $20/month (Pro) | $20/month (Pro) |
| Annual price | €99/year (save €45) | $240/year | $240/year |
| Pricing model | BYOK flat subscription | Credit pool ($20/mo) | Quota (daily + weekly cap) |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | Unlimited (BYOK) | ~4 sessions/month ($5 each) | 2× quota cost, daily caps |
| API cost markup | None — direct Anthropic | Face-value API credits | Face-value quota credits |
| Prompt caching | Yes — up to 90% off input | Automatic | Automatic |
| Daily usage limits | None | None (credit pool) | Yes — daily + weekly cap |
| Session budget cap | User-configurable | No | No |
| Per-session cost visibility | Full token breakdown | Credit usage only | Credit usage only |
| Tab completions | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Prices sourced from cursor.com/pricing, windsurf.com/pricing, and anthropic.com/pricing as of March 2026. Overclock is not affiliated with Cursor or Windsurf. Verify current pricing before subscribing.
Yes. Overclock sends API requests directly to Anthropic’s API (api.anthropic.com) using your key. We do not proxy, intercept, or add any charges to API calls. Your API usage appears on your Anthropic billing dashboard.
Overclock supports Claude Opus 4.6 (most capable, 1M context), Claude Sonnet 4.6 (balanced, 1M context), and Claude Haiku 4.5 (fastest, 200K context). You can switch models per prompt.
Prompt caching is an Anthropic API feature that caches static parts of your request (tools, system prompt, CLAUDE.md content). Cached tokens are read at 10% of normal input price. Overclock configures caching automatically — CLAUDE.md uses a 1-hour TTL, and tool definitions use a 5-minute TTL.
Overclock uses the Claude Code preset, which includes: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep, Web Fetch, Web Search, and Sub-Agents. Additionally, MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers for GitHub, Notion, Linear, PostgreSQL, and more can be connected.
When a conversation approaches the model’s context window limit, Overclock automatically compacts (summarizes) earlier conversation turns. This allows long coding sessions to continue without losing context or restarting.
Your API key is stored in your operating system’s secure keychain (Windows Credential Manager, macOS Keychain, or Linux Secret Service) via Tauri’s secure storage plugin. It is never written to disk in plaintext, never exposed to frontend JavaScript, and never sent to Overclock’s servers.
No. Overclock sends your prompts directly to Anthropic’s API. We collect only anonymous usage metadata (session duration, token counts, model used, cost) for your usage dashboard. We never access, store, or transmit your code, prompts, or API responses.
Yes. We collect minimal data (email for authentication, usage metadata). Users can delete all their data at any time through the account settings. See our Privacy Policy for full details.