We can no longer create new Pickaxes with Claude 3.5 or higher unless we’re on a pro plan. This is an extremely unpleasant change guys, and not a good one at all.
When we bought the lifetime plan, Claude was supposed to be part of the deal, and now we’re limited to Claude 3.0? If you feel that Claude is becoming more expensive and you’re starting to make a loss offering this, fine. As your client, I want you to make a profit so you can continue to improve the product. But the way this was carried out is not in good faith. Is something else going to be taken away in the future? This would have been so much better if you properly informed us beforehand. Please consider honoring the time and effort we’ve put in to build our brand around Pickaxe.
Now to the key point. I need the ability to use Claude 3.7, why am I being blocked from bringing my own key? There’s no loss for you to do this. My services are already in production and this is heavily impacting what I’m supposed to deliver to my clients. Please seriously consider adding the ability to bring my own keys to use Claude, and quickly, the impact to my business is really huge!
I also totally understand that it is financially not viable to keep giving lifetime users credits for the expensive models, but not being able to use our own API keys for those newer models is disappointing.
I hope this is just a migration error, oversight or can be re-evaluated.
We moved to the two most expensive Claude models to the Pro tier. They were costing us too much money as some users were gaming our pricing structure.
This affects Free and Gold users (and thus LTDs, as they are tied to the Gold tier).
I know it’s frustrating when a product changes. We are making tons of big improvements to the product to make the entire thing better for everyone. For every adjustment you don’t love, there will be a dozen new features you do.
This makes perfect sense @admin_mike - I understand the need to manage costs when users exploit pricing structures.
However, I’m confused about why we can’t use our own API keys for these more expensive models?
Allowing early adopters to bring their own keys wouldn’t cost Pickaxe anything, so it would solve your problem while keeping early adopters happy and in the boat.
I see that you’ve allowed us to at least continue to create Pickaxe with Claude 3.5. This has allowed me to at least resume my deliverables to my clients, it’s greatly appreciated! We hope to see the ability to bring our own keys next.
@admin_mike what makes this whole conversation so surprising that the development goes against earlier public statements by @nathaniel that confirmed BYOK for newer models:
It’s just about helping people not get baited into making a purchase and steer them to other providers who values integrity. Help them make informed decision, if you will.
Initially, they paywalled Sonnet 3.5 and not Opus, but Opus is more expensive. So they switch because their initial reason for cost won’t make sense.
3.7 and 3.5 have the same cost but 3.7 is paywalled
I do not appreciate accusations against our team’s integrity. We are improving the product, building an entirely new version, adding new features. For anyone who bought an LTD, you really got a fantastic deal. LTDs will enjoy all of these improvements that Gold users get.
Models are essentially commodities. They are, in fact, rather interchangeable. And always competing with each other in a way that lowers their cost. If we gate a model it is because the cost is restrictive for us to provide to Free and Gold tiers. The most expensive Claude model is restrictively expensive to provide at the moment. As it stands, Gold users can use Claude 3.5 sonnet and Claude 3.7 sonnet. The only model that is restricted is Claude Opus.
I do agree! Thank you for your amazing work with everything. I completely get all the paywalls and with the new v2 you’ve got a lot in your plate. But thank you for giving us access to the sonnets, it is much appreciated.
Thank you Pickaxe team for considering our voice, and placing back the Sonnet models. Just want to voice my appreciation, it builds our trust towards the Pickaxe brand.
In the long run, please allow us to bring our own keys for the more expensive models, we don’t want you to make a loss, but we also want access to the models. Allowing us to bring our own keys seems like a win-win
Same here! Thank you very much for listening and bringing back Sonnet (and even allowing 3.7) - it is very much appreciated.
Even though it probably makes little difference, but I have set my own API Keys and will happily pay for my usage going forward and not use any of the pickaxe credits.
