Claude 4 Shutdown Survival Guide: What to Do Right Now
Your API is returning 410 errors. Your app is broken. Here's exactly what to do in the next 5 minutes — no theory, just action.
🚨 Claude 4 Is Dead — Act Now
On June 15, 2026, Anthropic permanently retired Claude 4 Opus and Claude Sonnet 4. Every API call to these models now returns HTTP 410 Gone. Your application has stopped working.
This is permanent. There is no grace period, no rollback, no coming back. You need to update your code.
📋 What's In This Guide
1. The 2-Minute Quick Fix
If you just need to get your app working again, here's the fix:
claude-4-opus-20250615
claude-4-opus
claude-sonnet-4-20250514
claude-sonnet-4
claude-opus-4-8
claude-sonnet-4-6
That's it. Same API key. Same SDK. Same endpoint. Just change the model name string. Opus 4.8 is 67% cheaper ($5/$25 vs $15/$75) with better performance.
Don't want to use Anthropic anymore? Skip to Step 3: Top 5 Alternatives to see cheaper options.
2. Stay Anthropic or Switch?
The first decision: keep using Anthropic with their newer models, or switch to a different provider entirely.
🤔 What Should You Do?
🔒 Option A: Stay with Anthropic
Best for: Teams already invested in the Anthropic ecosystem, using Claude-specific features, or who want the simplest migration.
- Claude Opus 4.8 — $5/$25 per million tokens (67% cheaper than Claude 4 Opus). Better performance, 1M context window.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 — $3/$15 per million tokens. Great balance of speed and quality.
- Claude Haiku 4.5 — $1/$5 per million tokens. Fastest and cheapest Anthropic model.
Migration time: 2 minutes. Change model name, redeploy. Done.
🚀 Option B: Switch to a Different Provider
Best for: Teams wanting to cut costs significantly, explore better options, or reduce dependency on a single provider.
3. Top 5 Alternatives Compared
Here are the best Claude 4 replacements, ranked by value:
| Model | Provider | Input/M | Output/M | Savings | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $5.00 | $25.00 | 67% | Same ecosystem, easiest migration |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | DeepSeek | $0.44 | $0.87 | 97% | Best quality-to-price ratio |
| GPT-5 | OpenAI | $1.25 | $10.00 | 87% | Most reliable, huge ecosystem |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro | $2.00 | $12.00 | 82% | 1M context, Google ecosystem | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | DeepSeek | $0.14 | $0.28 | 99% | Cheapest option, good for simple tasks |
4. How Much You'll Save
Here's what your Claude 4 bill looks like on each alternative:
| Monthly Usage | Claude 4 Opus (Old) | Opus 4.8 | DeepSeek V4 Pro | GPT-5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10M input + 2M output | $300/mo | $100/mo (−$200) | $6.09/mo (−$294) | $32.50/mo (−$268) |
| 50M input + 10M output | $1,500/mo | $500/mo (−$1,000) | $30.45/mo (−$1,470) | $162.50/mo (−$1,338) |
| 100M input + 20M output | $3,000/mo | $1,000/mo (−$2,000) | $60.90/mo (−$2,939) | $325/mo (−$2,675) |
💡 Want the Full Cost Breakdown?
Our Migration Calculator shows exact savings for YOUR specific usage across all 42 models. Most devs save 67-97%.
Calculate Your Savings →5. Code Snippets for Every Provider
Copy-paste migration code for your provider:
Python (Anthropic SDK)
import anthropic
client = anthropic.Anthropic()
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-4-opus",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
)
import anthropic
client = anthropic.Anthropic()
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-opus-4-8",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
)
Node.js (Anthropic SDK)
import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';
const client = new Anthropic();
const message = await client.messages.create({
model: 'claude-sonnet-4',
messages: [{role: 'user', content: 'Hello'}]
});
import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';
const client = new Anthropic();
const message = await client.messages.create({
model: 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
messages: [{role: 'user', content: 'Hello'}]
});
Switching to DeepSeek
# Python — Switch to DeepSeek V4 Pro (97% cheaper)
import openai
client = openai.OpenAI(
api_key="your-deepseek-api-key",
base_url="https://api.deepseek.com/v1"
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="deepseek-v4-pro",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
)Switching to GPT-5
# Python — Switch to GPT-5 (87% cheaper)
import openai
client = openai.OpenAI() # Uses OPENAI_API_KEY env var
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="gpt-5",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
)cURL
# Switch from Claude 4 to Opus 4.8
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
-d '{
"model": "claude-opus-4-8",
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
}'6. Framework-Specific Fixes
LangChain
# Before (broken)
from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic
llm = ChatAnthropic(model="claude-4-opus")
# After (fixed)
from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic
llm = ChatAnthropic(model="claude-opus-4-8")LlamaIndex
# Before (broken)
from llama_index.llms.anthropic import Anthropic
llm = Anthropic(model="claude-sonnet-4")
# After (fixed)
from llama_index.llms.anthropic import Anthropic
llm = Anthropic(model="claude-sonnet-4-6")Vercel AI SDK
// Before (broken)
import { anthropic } from '@ai-sdk/anthropic';
const model = anthropic('claude-4-opus');
// After (fixed)
import { anthropic } from '@ai-sdk/anthropic';
const model = anthropic('claude-opus-4-8');🔧 Need Framework-Specific Help?
Pro includes complete migration guides for 8 frameworks: LangChain, LlamaIndex, Vercel AI SDK, CrewAI, Haystack, and more.
View Framework Guide →7. Five Migration Mistakes to Avoid
These are the most common mistakes developers make when migrating from Claude 4:
Using Wrong Model IDs
The #1 mistake (18% of support tickets). Make sure you're using claude-opus-4-8 (with dashes), not claude_opus_4_8 or claude-opus-48. Check every file — config files, environment variables, and constants.
Not Updating Base URLs
If switching from Anthropic to DeepSeek/OpenAI/Google, you need to update the API base URL too. The SDK won't automatically redirect you.
Ignoring Token Counting Differences
Different models tokenize text differently. DeepSeek may count fewer tokens per request, which could inflate costs if you're budgeting based on Claude's token counts. Test with your actual workload.
Missing Hidden Config Files
Check .env, config.yaml, langchain.yaml, and any CI/CD pipeline configs. Deprecated model IDs can hide in places your IDE search won't find.
Not Testing Streaming
If you use streaming responses, test that the new model's streaming format works with your parsing code. Most providers are compatible, but edge cases exist.
8. Post-Migration Checklist
✅ Migration Checklist
- Search codebase for
claude-4-opusandclaude-sonnet-4— replace all occurrences - Check
.env, config files, and CI/CD pipelines for deprecated model IDs - Update API base URL if switching providers
- Get new API key if switching providers
- Test basic API call with new model
- Test streaming responses
- Test with production-like token volume
- Monitor first 24 hours for unexpected errors
- Update documentation with new model IDs
🎉 Done?
If your app is working again, congratulations — you've survived the Claude 4 shutdown. You're now paying 67-99% less for the same (or better) performance.
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