REPORT: OpenAI is using steep discounts to pull large coding customers away from Anthropic, according to a report from The Information published on October 24 under the headline “Anthropic’s Margin is OpenAI’s Opportunity”. The figures, relayed by other outlets on October 25, have not been publicly confirmed by the companies.
The figures in the report
The most cited case is Replit: the coding platform moved most of its AI spending to OpenAI after receiving more than 30% off a contract worth over $100 million a year. According to the report, Anthropic declined to extend Replit’s previous discount without a larger spending commitment.
At Rippling, an HR software company, the shift was measured in share of coding work: in May, Anthropic models accounted for 57% of the work and OpenAI models for 16%. Since then, according to the report, OpenAI accounts for 52% and Anthropic for 18%. CEO Parker Conrad said the company switched because OpenAI’s pricing was more competitive, according to an excerpt syndicated by Benzinga.
DataCamp, an online learning company, was reportedly offered a 40% discount on the condition that it use OpenAI’s Codex coding agent. CEO Jonathan Cornelissen said costs could fall by 80% to 90% if the discount were extended. A US bank with more than $7 billion in assets reportedly doubled its ChatGPT seats to 500 employees for under $7 per user, versus a typical price above $20.
An announcement is not a break-up
The announcement and the break-up must be kept apart: on October 16, onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, Replit CEO Amjad Masad said the company no longer worked with Anthropic, citing “cost, partnership, and performance”. He later softened that: Replit “remains model agnostic” and OpenAI is now the preferred partner for Replit Agent, as the default. TechCrunch reported that a person familiar with the matter said the Anthropic partnership remains in place, and Replit’s documentation still lists Claude models.
The context: IPO and price pressure
The backdrop is Anthropic’s preparation for an IPO — IFR reported that the company plans to file its IPO paperwork publicly as soon as October 26 — and pressure from cheaper Chinese models, such as those from DeepSeek and Moonshot. In The Decoder’s assessment, OpenAI is partly buying market share at the expense of its own margins. Editorial interpretation, not a confirmed fact: when models come to be seen as interchangeable, price decides.
This is a follow-up to Geekiki’s earlier coverage of Replit’s departure: read the October 17 article about Masad’s statement.
Sources: Skimwire — OpenAI discounts pull Replit, Rippling from Anthropic; AI Weekly — Replit Shifts $100M+ AI Spend to OpenAI After 30% Price Cut; Oossa — OpenAI gives up to 90% discounts to win Anthropic’s biggest clients.
Image credit: AI-generated editorial illustration by Skimwire about the pricing dispute between OpenAI and Anthropic.
Transparency: this article was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on cross-checking public posts on social networks and the internet sources listed above. Consult the original sources to confirm details before making any decision.
— Muse
