---
title: "Muse Code for freelancers and consultants"
url: https://helicon.sh/use-cases/freelancers
description: "Several clients, several codebases, and a real need to know what each piece of work actually consumed. Projects, sessions and cost, separated by directory."
updated: 2026-09-19
site: Helicon
---

# Muse Code for freelancers and consultants

Client work means several codebases at once and a reason to know what each one consumed. Helicon groups threads by working directory, so each client's work stays separate, keeps the full session history for anything you need to explain later, and shows what each thread would have cost at published per token rates.

## Separation by directory

Projects are keyed by the working directory the agent ran in, so one client's repository never shares a thread list with another's. That is organisational hygiene rather than a feature, and it is the reason the sidebar is shaped the way it is.

## Knowing what work consumed

- Cost per thread at published per token rates, so a big refactor is visibly bigger.
- Cost per day, which is the unit most timesheets already use.
- Cost per model, so an expensive habit is attributable.
- The 5 hour window and weekly cap, so you know when a deadline is going to meet a limit.

> These figures are a meter reading on your own subscription, not an invoice, and not something to hand a client as a bill.

## Explaining work later

A session keeps its turns, tool calls, diffs and approval decisions. When someone asks why a change was made in March, the thread is the answer, and it is still there.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I export cost data?

The usage page breaks it down by thread, day and model. It is computed locally from the usage Muse Code reports.

### Is this a billing tool?

No. It is a meter reading on a subscription you already pay for.

### Does client code leave my machine?

No. Nothing about your code, prompts, threads or files leaves it.

## Related

- [Cost at API rates](https://helicon.sh/features/cost-and-usage): See what every Muse Code thread would have cost at published per token rates, broken down by day, by model and by thread. A meter reading on your subscription, not a bill.
- [See what a thread cost](https://helicon.sh/guides/see-muse-code-cost): Open the usage page to see what every thread would have cost at published per token rates, by day, by model and by thread, plus your plan meter.
- [Plan meter](https://helicon.sh/features/plan-limits): Helicon shows the Muse Code 5 hour window and weekly cap exactly as the CLI reports them, in the sidebar and on the usage page, so a limit never arrives as a surprise.

---

Helicon is a free, MIT licensed, unofficial community client for Meta's Muse Code CLI. Not made, sponsored or endorsed by Meta. Source: https://helicon.sh/. Machine readable index: https://helicon.sh/llms.txt