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Claude Code alternative: for the jobs that repeat

Claude Code runs an agent loop over your repositories and can run unattended through routines, on a schedule, an API call or a GitHub event. Whenever is where the job it figured out goes once it repeats: Claude Code writes the workflow, Whenever runs that code on a trigger.

By Whenever team · Updated · Workflow behavior and runtime limits

What you get on Whenever

  • The plan is written down once

    The steps a session worked out become a workflow module, so each run follows that code instead of planning again.

  • A model only where a step asks

    Classification, summaries and drafts can stay AI steps; everything else runs as code without a model call.

  • Secrets stay in Setup

    You enter credentials in the browser. Your coding agent never handles a secret.

Subscription usage, or a run per workflow.

Claude Code routines draw down subscription usage. Whenever counts whole workflow runs, with optional runtime AI on top.

Claude Code

Subscription usage

Routine runs draw down your plan’s usage

Routines are available on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, with hourly limits on starting runs.

Whenever

$39/mo

10,000 runs per month

Find the right plan for you

Tax exempt for this offering.

At full use of 10,000 included runs, $39 ÷ 10,000 ≈ $0.0039/included run. This is an allowance average, not a per-run tariff, overage price or competitor savings claim. The monthly subscription is still $39 if you use fewer runs; unused allowance, runtime AI usage, moving to a larger plan and external charges change your effective cost.

Routines draw down subscription usage the same way interactive sessions do, and each way of starting a run has an hourly limit. Compare the usage of a representative routine with a workflow’s runs; no competitor dollar price is asserted.

A run is one execution of one workflow, start to finish. AI building and editing are free within weekly usage limits; runs are metered separately.

A closer look

What changes when you describe the job in plain language and code runs it: to build, to run, and to keep.

Repeatable execution logic

Claude Code

Each routine run creates a new Claude Code session that carries out the saved prompt.

Whenever

AI writes the procedure; published code runs its fixed logic. Optional AI steps can vary, and external data, time or randomness can change results. Fixed logic does not guarantee exactly-once delivery.

Runs per dollar

Claude Code

Routines draw down subscription usage like interactive sessions, with an hourly limit on each way of starting a run.

Whenever

Pro includes 10,000 runs per month; see the pricing page for current US dollar prices. AI building and editing are free within weekly usage limits. Published runs are metered separately: the meter counts the whole run, not individual steps. External services and optional model calls can have their own charges.

What you can express

Claude Code

A routine runs as a full Claude Code cloud session: shell commands, skills committed to the repository and the connectors you include.

Whenever

Describe the rules you already know; AI writes the procedure. Review the summary and sample results, not necessarily the code. Keep an explicit model step for judgment. Agent platforms may also offer fixed workflows or scripts; compare the mode you actually use.

Export and portability

Claude Code

A routine is a saved Claude Code configuration: a prompt, one or more repositories and a set of connectors.

Whenever

The TypeScript is yours: read it, edit it, export it, take it with you. Moving it to another runtime can require adapting managed connections, triggers and runtime-specific integrations.

Debugging a failed run

Claude Code

Open any run as a full session to see what Claude did. A green status means the session exited without an infrastructure error, not that the task succeeded.

Whenever

Each step’s recorded result, a debugger with breakpoints on a saved version, and an email on the first failure. A failed run is not retried or resumed for you.

Where the AI cost lands

Claude Code

Claude uses the routine’s selected model on every run.

Whenever

AI writes the workflow once, with free building subject to weekly AI usage limits. A published procedure runs its steps without a model choosing them. Any model call you explicitly include still runs and has its own cost.

API workflows to start from

Starter briefs for related jobs, not recorded runs. Connect authorised accounts, confirm trigger and plan requirements, then review and test the workflow before publishing.

Browse all templates

Questions people ask before switching

Do I stop using Claude Code?

No. Claude Code writes and edits the workflow; Whenever runs it.

Sources and scope

Official sources captured on the date shown below. These describe published features and billing rules, not independent performance tests. Check the linked documentation for current modes, plans and limits. No competitor dollar price is asserted.

Checked

Move one repeating Claude Code job

Ask Claude Code to turn it into a workflow. Whenever hosts, triggers and runs the code you reviewed.

  1. Pick the job that repeats

    A routine, a scheduled task or a prompt you keep running by hand.

  2. Ask Claude Code to refactor it

    Paste “Turn this task into a Whenever workflow and deploy it. Follow www.whenever.dev/skill.md”.

  3. Complete Setup and publish

    Enter the credentials, run it once by hand, then publish.

Start for freeNo credit card requiredAI building has weekly usage limits.