Hatchlog and ccusage: usage by day vs cost by task
ccusage is a free, open-source CLI that reads your local Claude Code data and reports token usage and cost by day, session and 5-hour billing block, across many agents. Hatchlog answers a different question: what each task cost, shown on the board as the agent works. They don't really compete. Use ccusage for your overall spend, and Hatchlog when you want per-task cost. Many developers should run both.
This one isn’t really a versus. ccusage is a usage tracker; Hatchlog is a task board that happens to show cost. I use ccusage myself. The honest framing is that they measure cost at different grains, and most people are better off with both.
What ccusage does well
ccusage is a free, open-source CLI you run with npx ccusage. It reads the usage data your coding-agent CLIs already write locally and turns it into reports: by day, week, month, session, and Claude’s 5-hour billing blocks. It covers a long list of agents, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI and more than a dozen others, and it needs no setup or account. For “what am I spending, and when,” it’s excellent and it’s free.
What it doesn’t do is tie a number to a feature. A daily total tells you the month is expensive; it doesn’t tell you which task ran up the bill.
| Hatchlog | ccusage | |
|---|---|---|
| Price model | One-time purchase, from $6 | Free; open source (MIT) |
| Platforms | Native Mac app | Cross-platform CLI, run with `npx ccusage` |
| Local or cloud | Local; your projects stay on your Mac | Local; reads usage data already on your machine |
| Agents supported | Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Claude Desktop | Reads usage for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and 15+ CLIs |
| Board UI | Native board the agent keeps up to date | None; terminal usage reports, not a task board |
| Token cost tracking | Per-task token cost, for Claude Code | By day, session and 5-hour block — not per task |
| Setup | Connect agents in one click | Run `npx ccusage`; no config |
Where Hatchlog is different
Hatchlog measures cost at the task level. As the agent works a card, Hatchlog records the Claude Code tokens that task used and what that would cost at API prices. The question it answers is “which feature was expensive to build,” which a day or session total can’t show.
That’s the whole difference: grain. ccusage rolls usage up by time; Hatchlog attributes it to a task on the board. One is about your overall spend, the other about where a specific chunk of it went. Hatchlog measures this for Claude Code only.
Honest trade-offs
ccusage is free, cross-platform, and covers far more agents than Hatchlog measures. If all you want is a running total of spend, ccusage is enough and costs nothing; Hatchlog would be the wrong thing to buy for that. Hatchlog is Mac-only and paid, and its cost view is Claude Code only.
Use ccusage if…
- You want token usage and cost by day, week, month or session.
- You want one tool across many agent CLIs.
- You want it free, with nothing to set up.
Use Hatchlog if…
- You want to know what a specific feature cost in Claude Code tokens.
- You want that number on a board the agent keeps current.
- You’re on a Mac and working mainly with Claude Code.
To estimate a single run’s cost yourself, the Claude Code cost calculator is free, and token cost per task explains what Hatchlog measures. For the task tools themselves, see the best task managers for AI coding agents.
FAQ
Does ccusage show cost per task?
No. ccusage aggregates by day, week, month, session and 5-hour billing block. That's the right shape for tracking overall spend, but it doesn't tie cost to a feature. Hatchlog does that, on the board, for Claude Code.
Is ccusage free?
Yes, it's open source under MIT and runs with npx. Hatchlog is a one-time purchase. They solve different problems, so using both is reasonable.
Which agents does ccusage cover?
It reads local usage for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI and more than a dozen others. Hatchlog measures token cost for Claude Code only.
Should I pick one?
You don't have to. ccusage tells you what you spent overall; Hatchlog tells you which task cost it. Many developers keep ccusage for the totals and use Hatchlog for the per-task view.