Both claim to cut your Claude bill. They solve different problems. Here's how to pick.
Run the free audit at aiusage.ai →| Dimension | AIUsage | Smooth CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Pitch | Stop overpaying for Claude — 70-90% on same prompts | 20x faster, 5x cheaper Claude Code with --chrome |
| Savings claim | 70-90% (6 verified cases: 76-84%) | 5x cheaper on browser agents |
| Workload coverage | Any Claude API workload — support, agents, code review, content, CRM codegen | AI agents that browse the web |
| Setup | One-line code change (swap API endpoint) | Cloud service with signup. Browser-agent abstraction over Playwright |
| Free audit | Yes — paste bill, see number, no signup | Typically no |
| Mechanism disclosure | Private — "try it, the number is testable" | Smaller browsing-specific model + task-level abstraction |
| Scope | Broad (workload-agnostic) | browser agents only |
If your Claude usage is ai agents that browse the web and you're comfortable with cloud service with signup. browser-agent abstraction over playwright, Smooth CLI is purpose-built for that shape. — GitHub stars if that matters to you.
If your Claude spend spans multiple workload types (support automation, agent loops, code review, content drafting, daily coding) or you want to audit your bill before you commit to any cost-reduction tool, AIUsage gives you the number first. No CLI install, no platform dependency, no code rewrite.
Smooth saves on web-browsing agent token burn. AIUsage saves on the entire Claude API side of your monthly bill.
Across six audited workloads, AIUsage's measured delta was 76-84% on the same prompts, blind A/B tested: