DEV Community

brian austin
brian austin

Posted on

Claude Code in Brazil: R$10/month vs R$100 for ChatGPT

#claudecode #brazil #ai #braziliandevs

Claude Code in Brazil: R$10/month vs R$100 for ChatGPT

If you're a Brazilian developer using Claude Code, you already know the problem: ChatGPT Plus costs R$100/month — about 2 days of minimum wage in Brazil.

That's not a subscription. That's a tax on being a developer outside the US.

The math that doesn't work for Brazilian devs

R$100/month for ChatGPT × 12 = R$1,200/year

For a dev in São Paulo earning the median tech salary, that's still a significant chunk. For students at USP, UFRJ, or Unicamp? Almost impossible to justify.

What actually works: Claude Code via proxy

Claude Code (the terminal-based coding agent from Anthropic) supports a ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL environment variable. This lets you route API calls through a cheaper proxy while keeping the full Claude Code experience.

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://simplylouie.com/api
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-key-here
claude
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

That's it. Same Claude Code. Same models. Same quality.

Cost: R$10/month (vs R$100+ for ChatGPT Plus)

Why this works for Brazilian developers

The proxy sits between Claude Code and Anthropic's API. You get:

  • Full Claude Code terminal experience
  • No rate limit surprises mid-session
  • Flat R$10/month — no usage spikes
  • Works from any city: São Paulo, Rio, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Curitiba

Real example: refactoring a Node.js API 

# Set once in your .bashrc or .zshrc
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://simplylouie.com/api
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-louie-xxxxx

# Then just use Claude Code normally
cd ~/my-project
claude "refactor this Express API to use async/await throughout"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Claude Code reads your files, makes the changes, runs tests. Standard workflow — but at a price that makes sense for Brazilian salaries.

The comparison

Tool Monthly cost (BRL) Notes
ChatGPT Plus R$100+ API limits, US-centric pricing
Claude Pro ~R$80+ No Claude Code proxy support
SimplyLouie R$10/month Claude Code proxy, flat rate

PIX and local payment support

Signup accepts standard payment methods. The R$10 price is fixed — no conversion rate surprises, no "price may vary" disclaimers.

Get started

→ simplylouie.com/br/

7-day free trial. Card required. Cancel anytime.

R$10/month. That's less than a pastel de feira. For a full AI coding assistant.

SimplyLouie is a Claude API proxy built for developers in markets where $20/month AI pricing doesn't make sense. 50% of revenue goes to animal rescue organizations.

Top comments (0)