Claude in the Cloud: Run Claude Code Off Your Laptop (2026)

Claude Code can run in four places besides your laptop: Anthropic's cloud sessions, a self-hosted environment on your company's machines, your own server steered through Remote Control, or your own server over SSH. Most people should start with cloud sessions. They come with a paid Claude plan, cost nothing extra and keep working after you close the lid.

Checked against Anthropic's documentation and pricing on November 8, 2026.

Where can Claude Code run besides your laptop?

There are four options. For most people the right one is Anthropic's cloud sessions, which are included in a paid Claude plan. The other three are for teams that need their own network, or for people who want a machine they control.

This page is about running Claude Code itself. Publishing a website that Claude Code built is a different job. If what you're really after is a site or app live at its own link, with no server to keep up, Bento builds those and puts them live on every plan.

What are Claude Code cloud sessions?

A cloud session is a Claude Code session that runs on Anthropic's computers instead of yours. It keeps going after you close your laptop, and you can check on it or steer it from a browser, the Claude app or another computer.

What you get, according to Anthropic's cloud sessions docs and its cloud environment reference:

• A fresh machine per session. Each session gets its own Ubuntu 24.04 virtual machine with your repository cloned and common tools installed. Anthropic lists about 4 processors, 16 GB of memory and 30 GB of disk, and says those limits may change.
• No separate bill for the machine. Sessions count toward your plan's usage limits alongside everything else you do in Claude. Running several at once uses your limits faster.
• A pause when you go quiet. After a few minutes with nothing happening, the machine pauses with your files saved. A paused machine can later be reclaimed. Reopening the session brings the conversation back, but not commands that were still running.
• GitHub at the centre. Cloning and pull requests need GitHub. A GitLab or Bitbucket repository can be uploaded as a one-off bundle, but the session can't push changes back to it.

An "environment" in Anthropic's menus is just the saved settings a session starts with: what websites it can reach, environment variables and a setup script. Setup gives you a first one called Default.

How do you start a Claude Code cloud session?

Open claude.ai/code, connect GitHub, pick a repository and type the task. From a terminal, run claude --cloud "your task" inside a repository.

From the browser or the Claude app

1. Sign in at claude.ai/code, or open the Code tab in the Claude mobile app.
2. Connect GitHub when asked. The Claude GitHub app gives access to the repositories you choose.
3. Pick the repository and environment, type the task and send it.
4. Close the tab. When it finishes, review the changes and open a pull request from the same page.

From the terminal

1. Push your branch first. The cloud machine clones what's on GitHub, not what's on your disk.
2. Run the task:

claude --cloud "Fix the flaky test in auth.spec.ts"

Each --cloud command starts its own session, so three commands run three tasks side by side. (The older --remote flag still works but is on its way out.)

Anthropic suggests a useful split for big jobs: plan locally with claude --permission-mode plan, commit the plan, then hand the execution to the cloud with claude --cloud "Execute the plan in docs/migration-plan.md".

To bring a finished session back to your terminal, run claude --teleport. That only works one way. You can pull a cloud session down, but you can't push a session that's running in your terminal up to the cloud. The Claude desktop app can send one across.

When should a team self-host Claude Code?

Only when your code, tools or rules require sessions to run inside your own network. Anthropic's own advice is blunt: "Most teams are better served by Anthropic-hosted environments."

Self-hosted environments are cloud sessions with one change. Instead of Anthropic's machines, a program called a runner on your own servers picks up the session and does the work. Developers start sessions the same way and pick your environment from the list.

The facts that decide it:

• Plans: Team and Enterprise only, in public beta, and off until an organization Owner turns it on.
• Billing: the same Claude Code usage as Anthropic-hosted sessions. You pay for the servers on top.
• Privacy: checkouts and build files stay on your machines. The conversation itself still goes to Anthropic.

It's worth the effort when sessions need to reach internal databases or services that aren't on the internet, when every session needs the same custom tools pre-installed, or when compliance says code can't leave your infrastructure. If none of those apply, stay with the hosted version.

How do you host Claude Code on your own server?

Rent or reuse a Linux machine with at least 4 GB of memory, install Claude Code, sign in with your Claude account and start Remote Control. You then steer it from claude.ai/code or your phone, while the work runs on your machine.

This is the route Anthropic points to when a job needs more than the cloud machine's limits, when you rely on local tools, or when your code isn't on GitHub.

What the machine needs

Anthropic's minimum is Ubuntu 20.04 or later, Debian 10 or later or Alpine 3.19 or later, with 4 GB of memory and an x64 or ARM processor.

Claude Code doesn't run the AI model on your server. The model runs at Anthropic, so a small machine is enough. On DigitalOcean's price list, the cheapest standard machine that meets the 4 GB floor (2 processors, 4 GB, 80 GB disk) is $24 a month.

Setup

1. Give Claude Code its own user. Create an account with no admin rights and nothing else on it, so a bad command can only touch that one project.
2. Install Claude Code as that user:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

1. Sign in. Run claude and use /login to connect your Claude account.
2. Give it one repository. Add a deploy key that can reach only the repository it works on, instead of your personal GitHub login.
3. Start Remote Control from the project folder:

claude remote-control

Open the link it prints, or scan the QR code with the Claude app.

Remote Control only makes outgoing connections, so you don't open any ports. One server process can run up to 32 sessions at once by default.

The catch: if the claude process stops, its sessions go offline. You have about four hours to bring them back before you need a fresh one. Run it under a service manager or a tmux window so it survives your SSH session ending.

Remote Control needs a Claude plan sign-in. It doesn't work with an API key. If you pay through the API, the older route still works: SSH in, start Claude Code inside tmux and reattach when you come back.

Tools you connect work the same way on a server as on a laptop. To give Claude Code access to GitHub, Linear or a database, add MCP servers to Claude Code on the server itself.

Can Claude Code run 24/7 in the cloud?

A cloud session keeps going while a task runs, but it pauses a few minutes after the work stops. If you want something that stays on and picks up scheduled or recurring work, see how to keep Claude Code working around the clock. If the recurring work isn't code (a weekly report, a competitor check, a scheduled post), Bento's agents run it on a schedule without you keeping a machine alive.

What does it cost to host Claude Code?

The model is the main cost, not the machine. Cloud sessions add nothing to your Claude plan. A rented server starts at about $24 a month on top of your plan, or you can reuse a machine you already pay for.

Prices from claude.com/pricing and DigitalOcean, checked November 8, 2026. For what each plan's limits mean in practice, see Claude Code plans and limits.

Can a team share a cloud Claude Code setup?

Yes. On Team and Enterprise plans you can switch a session's visibility to Team and send the link. Teammates see where it stands when they open it, though the view doesn't update live.

For the whole team's sessions to run inside your network, use a self-hosted environment. A single shared server is less tidy, because Claude Code on it signs in as one person's account. For permissions, onboarding and policies, see our guide to rolling Claude Code out to a team. For the non-code side of the work, a Bento workspace takes your whole team at no extra cost per person.

Where does Bento fit?

Bento isn't a Claude Code hosting service. If the job is Claude Code working on your repositories while your laptop is shut, Anthropic's cloud sessions are the better answer, and they come with the Claude plan you already pay for.

Bento is for the work around the code: the launch post, the demo video, the voiceover, the dashboard at a link. Bento always picks the best AI for the job, and its agents browse the web, use your apps and run on a schedule to get it done.

Each workspace comes with its own always-on computer, starting at 4 cores and 8 GB of memory on the $20 Starter plan, and your whole team joins at no extra cost per person.

That computer is a full Linux machine that meets Claude Code's requirements. So if you'd rather keep your coding agent next to everything else, you can install Claude Code there like on any server and use the Remote Control steps above.

Pick cloud sessions if all you need is Claude Code off your laptop. Pick Bento if you also want to make everything around the code, on one bill.

Make anything. One subscription. Bento's plans start at $20 a month, and every new account starts with $5 of free credits. See Bento's plans.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Claude Code run locally or in the cloud?

Both. In a terminal, an editor or the desktop app with Local selected, it runs on your computer. Cloud sessions started from claude.ai/code, the Claude app or claude --cloud run on Anthropic's machines.

Is "Claude cloud" the same as Claude on AWS or Google Cloud?

No. Claude on AWS Bedrock or Google Cloud is the Claude model sold through a cloud provider. Claude Code's cloud sessions need an Anthropic account, and --cloud doesn't work when Claude Code is set up to use Bedrock or Google's platform.

Can I use Claude Code cloud sessions with GitLab or Bitbucket?

Partly. You can upload a repository as a bundle by setting CCR_FORCE_BUNDLE=1, but the session can't push results back. For full two-way work on those hosts, run Claude Code on your own server or use a self-hosted environment.

Can I host Claude Code with an API key instead of a plan?

Yes, on your own server over SSH. Cloud sessions and Remote Control both need a Claude plan sign-in.

How much memory does a Claude Code server need?

Anthropic's minimum is 4 GB. Large builds and tests need more, since the server runs your code and tools, not the model.

Should I use Codex instead?

It depends on the work, not the hosting. Our Codex vs Claude Code comparison covers where each one is stronger.