Anthropic has renamed its most expensive Claude subscription. Max 20x is now the Claude Ultra plan, still $200 a month, and verified Ultra accounts no longer hit the rolling five-hour usage limit that pauses long Claude Code sessions. The $100 Max 5x plan is now just Max. Anthropic announced both changes on Friday, October 30.
The weekly cap stays, and Anthropic has now put a number on it: Ultra gets 10 times Pro’s weekly usage. The old “20x” label described each five-hour session, not the week, so heavy users should check which limit they actually run into before paying for the bigger plan.
- Price: Ultra (formerly Max 20x) is $200 a month and Max (formerly Max 5x) is $100, both billed monthly. Nothing changes for current subscribers.
- What’s new: no five-hour limit on verified Ultra accounts, plus a published weekly allowance of 10x Pro.
- Still capped: weekly limits are unchanged, and Fable has its own weekly limit.
- Verification: automatic, based on account and payment history. You can’t request it.
What the Claude Ultra plan changes
“We’re renaming our Max plans: Max 5x → Max, Max 20x → Ultra,” Anthropic’s @claudeai account posted at 1:29 PM ET on Friday. It added that subscribers don’t need to do anything and that “weekly limits remain unchanged.” The pricing page now lists the plans like this:
| Plan (checked Oct 31) | Price | Every 5 hours | Every week | Monthly API credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | $20/month, or $17/month billed annually | 1x | 1x | None |
| Max (was Max 5x) | $100/month | 5x Pro | 5x Pro | $100 |
| Ultra (was Max 20x) | $200/month | No limit (verified accounts) | 10x Pro | $200 |
Both top plans let Fable use up to half of the weekly limit, and both are monthly only. Anthropic’s Ultra help page says the $200 price applies to web subscriptions, and mobile pricing may vary by app store. The API credits, which Anthropic added to these plans in early October, can’t be spent on interactive Claude Code or on extra usage in the Claude apps.
Where the 20x went
An archived copy of the pricing page from October 28 offered “5x or 20x the usage of Pro per 5-hour session.” It didn’t list a weekly figure for the $200 tier. The new page does, and it’s 10x Pro, double the $100 Max plan for double the price.
Since Anthropic says weekly limits haven’t changed, this reads as a disclosure rather than a cut. It does show why the rename makes sense. A five-hour window that could hold 20 times Pro’s usage was only a speed limit; the weekly allowance was always the real ceiling. Now Ultra drops the speed limit and keeps the ceiling.
Who gets the five-hour limit removed, and when
Anthropic says the change started Friday “with most existing subscribers.” Newer accounts keep a temporary five-hour limit until they’re verified, which the company says helps it prevent fraud and abuse, and it will email people when the limit is lifted.
The help page says verification happens automatically, based on account and payment history. Verifying a phone number at checkout is a separate step and doesn’t remove the limit. To check your status, open Settings > Usage. If there’s no “Current session” bar, your account is verified. Anthropic hasn’t said how long new subscribers will wait.
The fine print still leaves room for other caps. Anthropic’s pricing FAQ says it may limit usage “in other ways, such as weekly and monthly caps,” at its discretion. When you run out, you can turn on usage credits billed at standard API rates.
Is Ultra worth $100 more than Max?
It depends on which wall you hit. If Claude Code stops you mid-refactor with plenty of weekly usage left, Ultra removes that interruption once your account is verified. If you already run out before the week resets, Ultra still gives you twice Max’s weekly allowance, but nothing beyond that. Without a five-hour pause, a long agent run can also use up the week faster.
The timing matters too. Two days earlier, OpenAI started giving ChatGPT Pro subscribers monthly API credits that match their plan price, the same deal Claude’s top plans already include.
What to watch next
The number Anthropic still doesn’t publish is the size of Pro’s weekly allowance in tokens or messages, so “10x Pro” is a multiple of an unstated amount. Watch for the verification emails reaching newer Ultra subscribers, and for any sign that Max gets the same treatment.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Claude Ultra cost?
Claude Ultra costs $200 a month, billed monthly, the same price as the Max 20x plan it replaced. Anthropic says that price is for web subscriptions and mobile pricing may vary by app platform. It includes $200 a month in Claude API credits.
Does Claude Ultra have usage limits?
Yes. Verified Ultra accounts have no five-hour limit, but they still have a weekly limit of 10 times Pro’s usage across all models, plus a separate weekly limit for Fable. Anthropic says it may also apply other caps at its discretion.
How do I know if my Ultra account is verified?
Open Settings > Usage in Claude. If there’s no “Current session” bar, your account is verified and has no five-hour limit. Anthropic verifies accounts automatically based on account and payment history, emails you when the limit is removed, and says phone verification at checkout doesn’t count.
What’s the difference between Claude Max and Ultra?
Max costs $100 a month and gives 5 times Pro’s usage every five hours and every week, with $100 in monthly API credits. Ultra costs $200 a month, gives 10 times Pro’s weekly usage with no five-hour limit for verified accounts, and includes $200 in API credits.
Sources
- Claude (@claudeai) on X, plan rename and five-hour limit announcement (October 30, 2026, 1:29 PM ET): x.com
- Claude pricing page (plan cards, usage table, FAQ): claude.com; archived October 28, 2026 version: web.archive.org
- Claude Help Center, “What is the Ultra plan?” (verification, Settings > Usage check, mobile pricing): support.claude.com
- Claude Help Center, “What is the Max plan?”: support.claude.com
- Claude Help Center, “Monthly API credits for Max, Ultra, and Team plans”: support.claude.com
- Claude Help Center, “How do usage and length limits work?”: support.claude.com
All sources checked on the morning of October 31, 2026 (ET). Usage multiples are Anthropic’s published figures; Anthropic doesn’t publish Pro’s weekly allowance in absolute terms.
Last updated: October 31, 2026. To report an error, see our corrections page. Articles are drafted with AI assistance and reviewed and edited by an editor; see our editorial policy.
