I've installed Claude Code and I had a free trial week. After a while, the subscription expired and I wondered: is there a way to pay for Claude Code usage directly through my AWS bill?
The idea makes sense: through Amazon Bedrock, we have access to Anthropic models via API, and sometimes we also have AWS promotional credits applied to our account that could help offset the cost.
Related to AWS and Anthropic, on May 11, 2026, we had a surprising announcement: AWS introduced Claude Platform on AWS, with native access to Anthropic's platform through the user's AWS account. This is a very important announcement, but with subtle differences in the billing model. We will also discuss the differences between Claude Platform on AWS and running Anthropic Claude models on Amazon Bedrock.
So, those are basically three questions:
- Q1. Can we run Claude Code through AWS?
- Q2. If so, can we use promotional credits to pay the bill?
- Q3. What is the difference between Amazon Bedrock and the new Claude Platform on AWS?
While the first question has a clear yes answer and a straightforward setup path through Amazon Bedrock, the second question is more complex. You need to understand how credits work, what services are covered, and how to monitor AWS costs in general, especially for Anthropic model usage.
About the third one, the short answer is that Claude Platform on AWS has very nice and centralized features for Claude usage. The main difference is that it is billed through AWS Marketplace, which is different from using Claude models through Amazon Bedrock.
So, let's start wiht the post, developing these three questions
Q1. Can we use Claude Code through Amazon Bedrock?
You just need to set three environment variables and the magic happens:
1. Initial Steup with any Subscription in Place
This was my current status after ending my Claude Pro free week.
We can read Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Pro and also the message:
Your account does not have access to Claude Code. Please run /login.
At this point, Claude Code requires a Claude Pro subscription to continue using it.
2. Setting Up the Bedrock Integration
After setting the three variables:
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1
export AWS_PROFILE=my-aws-profile
export AWS_REGION=us-east-1
Now the message is different:
Sonnet 4.5 · API Usage Billing
This means the usage is now billed per API usage through AWS, instead of requiring a Claude Pro subscription.
Cost note: Claude on Amazon Bedrock is billed per token. If your AWS account has eligible credits, they may offset Bedrock usage. However, credit coverage depends on the specific credit program and whether the charge appears as Bedrock usage or AWS Marketplace usage.
3. First usage of Anthropic models with Amazon Bedrock
When you have a brand new AWS account, the first time you want to use any Anthropic model you must first fill out a form describing your use case.
This is required only once per account, but it is good to be aware of it.
and then
That's all.
And, after only two minutes, the message in the botton line changed from
The model us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-v1:0 is not available on your bedrock deployment...
to
Hello! I'm ready to help you with the ShopMind project.
Whizard Caution: Monitor your Bedrock tokens and costs
With this integration, you should be careful abut your Bedrock cost for the Claude Code model usage.
Using AWS Cost Explorer should be trivial, but, at first, when you start using your AWS account and apply your first credits, you may not be fully aware of what you are really using versus what you are actually spending daily or monthly.
That is a subtle difference, but let's review it.
This is my initial AWS Account, It said usd 23 cost this mon
But, in following screen, I'm spending $ 0.00, but… where is my usage?
In the first Cost Explorer screen, the usage is hidden by the applied credits. In this case, I had credits from the AWS re:Invent 2025 expo.
To see the real usage (even if the credits are covering the cost), you can activate a filter on the left side. Select Charge type and then choose Usage.
With this filter applied, Cost Explorer will show the actual usage, and you can understand how close you are to consuming your credits without waiting until the end of the month or the billing cycle.
4. Changing the models
Another useful feature is the /model command.
Using:
you can change the model used by Claude Code.
Some models are more powerful, while others are more cost-effective for small tasks.
For example:
- Claude Sonnet → better for complex coding tasks
- Claude Haiku → faster and cheaper for simple prompts
This makes it easy to balance performance and cost depending on the task.
But... let's see that there is an uncomfortable message at the bottom:
The model us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-v1:0 is not available on your bedrock deployment...
In the next section, we will see how to solve it:
Why this is useful
Many developers already receive AWS credits through programs like AWS Community Builders, hackathons, startup programs, or educational accounts.
With this configuration, instead of paying for a monthly subscription, you can run Claude Code through Amazon Bedrock. At first glance, that looks promising, but you must be careful: the rate of tokens spent this way can be higher than with a regular subscription.
That said, it is important to fully understand your costs and identify the impact of using AI integrated with AWS across different scenarios.
This is the short answer for personal usage...
Q3. What about "Amazon Bedrock" and "Claude Platform on AWS"?
This is a very good question because, at first glance, both options may look almost the same.
In both cases, we are talking about access to Anthropic Claude through an AWS account.
But the key difference is this:
- Amazon Bedrock gives you access to Claude models through the Bedrock API.
- Claude Platform on AWS gives you access to Anthropic's native Claude platform through AWS.
So, if your goal is to use Claude Code with Amazon Bedrock, you are basically consuming Anthropic models as part of the Amazon Bedrock service.
On the other hand, Claude Platform on AWS is closer to using Claude through Anthropic's own platform experience, but connected to AWS for account, billing, and enterprise integration.
And here comes the most important practical difference for this post:
- Amazon Bedrock usage is billed as Bedrock usage.
- Claude Platform on AWS is billed through AWS Marketplace.
That difference is not just a technical detail.
It can affect:
- whether your AWS promotional credits apply,
- how your finance team sees the charges,
- how procurement handles the service,
- and how easy it is to monitor the cost in the AWS billing console.
So, the short answer is:
- choose Amazon Bedrock if you want AWS-native model access through the Bedrock APIs,
- and evaluate Claude Platform on AWS if you want a more native Claude platform experience through your AWS account.
For this post, the important point is that the setup described here is based on Amazon Bedrock, not on Claude Platform on AWS.
Q4. What about a governated usage?
For a governated usage instead personal level, using Claude Code through Amazon Bedrock also brings several advantages related to governance, compliance, and security. Some of them are the following:
Centralized billing and cost control through the AWS account and Cost Explorer.
Use of AWS IAM and IAM Identity Center to control who can access and use AI models.
No external API keys required, since authentication is handled through AWS credentials.
Integration with AWS governance tools, such as CloudTrail and CloudWatch, for auditing and monitoring usage.
Ability to apply existing AWS credits to AI workloads, including Amazon Bedrock usage.
Alignment with enterprise security policies, since the traffic stays within the AWS environment.
... and more!
All these ones are true, but, beyound the scope of this post :)
See you in the next one!
I hope this post helps you make better decisions about using Claude Code through AWS, especially when credits, billing models, and governance requirements start to matter.
— Pablo
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