I'm a 22-year-old developer in China. I just want to keep building things with Claude.

Hey everyone,
I'm Leif, a 22-year-old independent developer living in mainland China.

I love building things. I spend much of my free time experimenting with new technologies, developing Minecraft mods, contributing to open-source projects, and sharing what I've learned with other developers. Claude, especially Claude Code, has become an essential part of how I learn and turn ideas into working projects.

But for months, I've been struggling with something that has nothing to do with coding: finding a reliable way to maintain a Claude subscription.

Living in mainland China means dealing with restrictions most developers elsewhere probably never have to think about. I've spent countless hours exploring networking solutions, working through the Great Firewall, troubleshooting connectivity, and trying different payment methods.

Eventually, I solved most of the technical problems. But the payment problem remains.

It's a strange and frustrating feeling. I can spend days debugging complex software, configuring servers, or building something from scratch, yet struggle with something as ordinary as paying for a tool I genuinely love using.

I understand Anthropic has reasons for restricting access in certain regions, including compliance and security considerations. I respect that these policies exist, even though I wish things were different. I'm not asking anyone to ignore them. I just wish living in China didn't make accessing the tools I depend on so difficult.
And that's why I'm writing this post.
I'm hoping to connect with developers in Singapore or other supported regions who might understand my situation, know of a legitimate solution, or perhaps be willing to help with a subscription.

I know this is an unusual request. Asking a stranger to get involved in payments comes with privacy concerns, financial risks, and questions of trust. I completely understand, and I wouldn't expect anyone to take those risks for someone they don't know.
But I believe people can build genuine friendships and trust through shared interests, especially in developer communities.

If someone is genuinely willing and able to help through an arrangement that respects the relevant rules, I'd gladly cover the full subscription cost upfront, plus something extra for currency exchange differences and as a thank-you for their time and effort.

I also run a high-performance, self-hosted VPS with a gigabit network connection in Jiangsu, China. If useful, I'd be happy to share some isolated server resources as another small gesture of appreciation.

Of course, I don't expect anyone to trust me just because I wrote this post. I'm happy to share my GitHub, Minecraft projects, and technical content, or simply chat about development and what we're working on. I'd rather get to know someone as a fellow developer than immediately ask for a favor.

Even if you can't help with the subscription, I'd appreciate any advice, experiences, or suggestions.

I know there are much bigger problems in the world, and this may sound like a small inconvenience. But when a tool matters so much to how you learn and create, constantly fighting just to access it can be exhausting.

At the end of the day, I just want to write code, learn new things, and build projects I care about.

If you've read this far, thank you. I really appreciate your time.
And if you're another developer who enjoys Minecraft, open source, AI agents, or just experimenting with technology, I'd love to connect regardless. :)