Start with what is built in: /usage shows your plan limits. Reach for a
separate tool when you want history, a view that is always on screen, or an answer to "which session used it".
Most of the good ones are free.
The options at a glance
| Tool | What it is | Price | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|
| /usage (built in) | A command inside Claude Code | Included | Your plan limits right now, and what kind of work used them |
| ccusage | Command line tool | Free, open source | Daily, weekly, monthly and per-session token tables, for many tools |
| Claude Code Usage Monitor | Live terminal display | Free, open source | Watching tokens and cost tick up during a session |
| costdoctor | Command line tool for Mac | Free, open source | A run-out forecast for your limits, and advice per session |
| CodexBar | Menu bar app for Mac | Free, open source | Limits and reset countdowns for a long list of providers |
| SessionWatcher | Menu bar app, Mac and Windows | Paid, one-time | Usage and rate limits across many tools, live |
| Cost Doctor | Menu bar app for Mac | $19 once, 14-day trial | Which session is the problem and why, plus an alert when a check fails |
What other tools do and cost is taken from their own pages, as checked in November 2026. Tools change; check their pages for the current details.
What is built in
/usage shows bars for your 5-hour and weekly limits and a breakdown of what counted against them.
/context shows what is filling the current session. A status line can keep both on screen. For many
people that is enough. How to use each of them.
What the built-in tools do not give you: history beyond a week, a per-session ranking, anything about Codex, or a warning before you run out.
If you live in a terminal
- ccusage is the standard answer. It reads the same local logs and prints tables by day, week, month or session, and it covers far more tools than Claude Code. Cost Doctor vs ccusage.
- Claude Code Usage Monitor is for watching a session live in a second terminal pane. Cost Doctor vs Claude Code Usage Monitor.
- costdoctor is ours, and free. It prints the last 7 or 30 days for Claude Code and Codex side
by side, your limits with the time you will run out at the current pace, and one line of advice for each heavy
session.
brew install apexnorthca/tap/costdoctor. Source on GitHub.
If you want it in the menu bar
- CodexBar is free and shows limit windows and reset countdowns for many providers. Choose it if your question is "can I start a long task before the next reset". Cost Doctor vs CodexBar.
- SessionWatcher covers the widest set of tools, and Windows as well as Mac. Cost Doctor vs SessionWatcher.
- Cost Doctor covers only Claude Code and Codex, and goes further on those two: a forecast of when each limit runs out, the session that used the most, why it is costly (history, a large start, or subagents), and a red frame around your screen when a pull request check fails while an agent sits waiting.
A different kind of tool
Headroom is not a monitor. It sits between you and the agent and compresses what is sent, to use fewer tokens. It can be used alongside any of the above. Cost Doctor vs Headroom.
How to choose
- You only want to know how much is left:
/usage, or CodexBar if you want it always visible. - You want history and tables: ccusage.
- You keep running out and want to know why: costdoctor in a terminal, or Cost Doctor in the menu bar.
- You leave agents running unattended: Cost Doctor, for the failed-check alert.
- You use many tools or Windows: SessionWatcher or ccusage.
All of these read the same log files on your computer and none of them conflict, so you can run more than one.
See it on your own sessions
Cost Doctor is a Mac menu bar app that reads the logs Claude Code and Codex already write. It names the session that is using your tokens, says why, and turns your screen red when a check fails while an agent sits waiting. Nothing leaves your Mac.
Download the free trialHow it works14 days free, no account. Then $19 once, plus tax where it applies. For Apple silicon and Intel Macs on macOS 13 or later.