Dinoradar vs ccusage
Two ways to see what Claude Code is really costing you. Both compute everything locally — neither uploads your data. The difference is shape: ccusage is a fast, free command-line tool; Dinoradar is a native macOS app with a live overlay and visual dashboards. Here's an honest side-by-side.
Run npx ccusage and get clean cost tables in your
terminal — daily, monthly, per session. Scriptable,
cross-platform, open source. Great for quick checks and CI.
A menu-bar app with a live activity overlay, visual spend analytics, cache-savings breakdowns and workflow insights. Always on, always visual — for people who live in Claude Code.
Feature comparison
Where each tool is strong — laid out plainly, no thumb on the scale.
| Capability | ccusage | Dinoradar |
|---|---|---|
| Price & access | ||
| Price | Free · MIT | Free tierPro $29 once |
| Setup | npx, no install |
Installer + hooks |
| Interface | Terminal | Menu-bar app + GUI |
| Visual & live | ||
| Live activity overlay | free | |
| Visual cost dashboard | Terminal tables | charts |
| Cache-savings breakdown | Token stats | visualized |
| Session history reader | Per-session totals | read sessions back |
| Guardrails | ||
| Runaway-loop & spend-threshold alerts | free | |
| Leaked-secret scan of session transcripts | free | |
| CLAUDE.md Coach — repeated corrections | Pro | |
| Power features | ||
| Deep insights · tool chains · MCP reliability | Pro | |
| Weekly recap / share cards | Pro | |
| Scriptable · JSON output · CI | excellent | |
| Reach & privacy | ||
| Multi-agent (Codex, Gemini, Copilot…) | many agents | Claude Code focused |
| Platforms | macOS · Linux · Windows | macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon) |
| Data privacy | Local, no upload | Local, your data never uploaded |
Compiled July 2026 from each tool's public docs. ccusage is an independent open-source project by its authors; Dinoradar is not affiliated with ccusage or Anthropic.
When to use each
Different jobs. Often the right answer is both.
Reach for ccusage when…
- You want a free, no-install tool — just
npx. - You live in the terminal and want quick cost tables.
- You need to script it, pipe JSON, or gate CI on spend.
- You track several coding agents, not just Claude Code.
- You're on Linux or Windows.
Reach for Dinoradar when…
- You want a live overlay showing what Claude does right now.
- You'd rather glance at a dashboard than run a command.
- You want to see how you work — tool chains, MCP reliability.
- You want to read past sessions back like a transcript.
- You want a weekly recap card worth sharing. You're on a Mac.
Questions, answered
Is Dinoradar a ccusage alternative?
They overlap but solve it differently. ccusage prints cost tables in your terminal; Dinoradar is a native macOS app with a live overlay, visual dashboards and workflow insights running in the background. Many people use both.
Is ccusage free?
Yes — ccusage is free and open source (MIT). Dinoradar has a free tier too: the live activity overlay, the Runaway and Leak Radar alerts, and the last 7 days of usage — and it never expires. Pro is a one-time $29 license (up to 3 Macs) that unlocks full history, cost analytics, Deep Insights and Recap.
Do either of them upload my data?
No. Both compute everything locally from the session files Claude
Code already writes to ~/.claude. Dinoradar's only
network call is license activation.
Which should I use?
Pick ccusage if you want a free, scriptable CLI that works across many agents and platforms. Pick Dinoradar if you're on a Mac and want a native, always-on visual dashboard with a live overlay, cache-savings breakdowns and workflow insights.
Further reading
See everything Claude Code does.
Free forever, no account, nothing leaves your Mac. The live overlay is free to start; Pro is a one-time $29.