# Show HN: Reduce Claude Code token usage ~50% with Headroom > Source: > Published: 2026-05-29 11:59:00+00:00 ### Privacy first Your prompts never touch our servers — everything runs locally on your machine. Headroom is a menu bar app that quietly optimizes the inputs Claude Code gets by trimming prompt bloat, stripping boilerplate, and compressing documents without changing how you work. This unlocks about **2x as much** Claude Code usage on the Claude plan you already pay for. macOS Your prompts never touch our servers — everything runs locally on your machine. Keeps your runtime clean, never interfering with packages your projects depend on. Smart optimization cuts noise before Claude Code sees it, with no impact on the output. How it works Headroom intercepts every prompt before it reaches Claude, strips out logs, boilerplate, and repetitive content, then forwards only what the model needs — cutting your token spend by ~50% without impacting output quality. Benchmarks Headroom compresses aggressively — but without throwing anything away. Real workloads, real results, measured before and after. Fewer tokens doesn't mean fewer answers. Headroom strips noise — not signal. Every benchmark below ran the same task with and without compression, then compared the outputs. ``` +0.02 F1 QA accuracy vs. uncompressed baseline Stripping HTML noise helped the model focus on relevant content — compression improved results on SQuAD v2 / HotpotQA (+2% exact match). ``` Based on data from the open-source [Headroom CLI benchmark suite](https://chopratejas.github.io/headroom/benchmarks/). ROI Calculator Headroom costs a fraction of your Claude subscription and delivers roughly twice the usage. ``` Equivalent extra capacity $1,000/mo 8× return on Headroom spend — based on ~2× token efficiency from Headroom. ``` Pricing Create a Headroom account to unlock your 14-day trial, then choose the plan that matches your Claude tier. Need rollout controls or private deployment? Talk to us about Headroom for teams. Limited usage with Claude Includes: Unlock unlimited savings Everything in Free, plus: For Claude Max x5 accounts Includes: For Claude Max x20 accounts Includes: Shared controls, governance, and private deployment options Built on Headroom CLI The Headroom desktop app is based on the open-source [Headroom](https://github.com/chopratejas/headroom/) CLI project created by Tejas Chopra. The desktop app is created with the endorsement and support of Tejas. Resources Guides on reducing Claude Code costs, understanding usage limits, and cutting Claude API spend — plus a product FAQ for privacy, quality, and rollout questions. Cost Guide Learn where token waste comes from, which workflows benefit most from compression, and how Headroom helps preserve quality while cutting spend. Usage Guide Learn what burns usage fastest, what counts toward your plan, and how to make the same Claude tier last longer. Why So Expensive The four patterns that drive Claude Code token spend: verbose tool output, repeated context, multi-step debugging, and large codebase reads. Usage Limits How the 5-hour rolling window and weekly cap work, what each plan covers, and how to keep coding without immediately upgrading. Claude API Practical levers for cutting Claude API spend — prompt caching, model tier routing, output limits, batch API — plus the Claude Code shortcut. FAQ Get quick answers about local processing, supported platforms, benchmarks, and how to evaluate whether Headroom fits your team. Ready to try it? Install the app, connect your account, and start reclaiming Claude Code usage in minutes. macOS