If you pay $200 a month for Claude, your plan is now called Ultra, and once your account is verified it no longer has a 5-hour session limit. You only have a weekly limit. To see whether that already applies to you, open Settings > Usage in Claude: if there is no “Current session” bar, the 5-hour limit is gone. The $100 plan, previously Max 5x, is now just “Max” and works exactly as before. Prices did not change, weekly limits did not change, and you do not need to do anything. Below is what changed, how to check your account, what can still stop you mid-task, and how to choose between the two plans if you mostly use Claude Code. Everything was checked on October 31, 2026 against Anthropic’s Claude pricing page, the Help Center articles What is the Ultra plan? and What is the Max plan?, and the official announcement from @claudeai posted on October 30, 2026 (US time).

Key facts:

• New names: Max 5x is now Max, and Max 20x is now Ultra. (@claudeai)
• Same prices: Max is still $100/month and Ultra is still $200/month. (Claude pricing)
• No 5-hour limit on Ultra for verified accounts. Anthropic started removing it “today with most existing subscribers”; newer accounts keep a temporary limit until they are verified. (@claudeai)
• Weekly limits are unchanged. (@claudeai)
• Existing Max 20x subscribers move to Ultra automatically. (Help Center)

What changed, in one table

	Pro	Max (was Max 5x)	Ultra (was Max 20x)
Price	$20/month, or $17/month billed yearly	$100/month	$200/month
5-hour session limit	Yes (1x)	Yes (5x Pro)	None for verified accounts
Weekly limit	Yes (1x)	5x Pro	10x Pro
Claude Fable (top model)	Paid with usage credits	Up to half your weekly limit	Up to half your weekly limit
Monthly API credits	None	$100	$200
Billing	Monthly or yearly	Monthly only	Monthly only

Source: Claude pricing and the Help Center articles linked above. Web prices only; Anthropic notes that prices in the iPhone or Android app may differ.

One thing that confuses people: the old name said “20x” but the new pricing page describes Ultra as “10x Pro usage every week.” Anthropic says weekly limits did not change, so this is a new way of describing the plan, not a cut. What actually changed is the 5-hour cap, which is gone for verified Ultra accounts.

Do I need to do anything?

No. Anthropic’s announcement says: “If you’re a subscriber, there’s nothing you need to do.” Your price, billing date and weekly allowance stay the same. Only the name on your plan changes. (@claudeai)

The one thing worth checking, if you are on the $200 plan, is whether the 5-hour limit has already been removed for you.

How to check whether your 5-hour limit is gone (Ultra)

1. Open Claude on the web or in the desktop app.
2. Go to Settings > Usage.
3. Look for a bar called Current session.
   • No “Current session” bar: your account is verified and has no 5-hour limit. Only the weekly bars apply.
   • You still see “Current session”: your account is not verified yet, and a temporary 5-hour limit still applies.

This check comes straight from Anthropic’s Ultra plan article. Anthropic also says you will get an email when the limit is removed. (@claudeai)

Still see the session bar? Here is what to know

• Verification is automatic. Anthropic says it verifies Ultra accounts “using factors like your account and payment history” and removes the temporary limit by itself, “so there’s nothing you need to do.” There is no button to press or form to fill in. (Help Center)
• Verifying your phone number does not help. The Help Center says verifying your phone number at checkout is a separate step and does not remove this limit.
• Newer accounts wait longer. The removal started with “most existing subscribers”; newer accounts keep the temporary limit until they are verified. Anthropic says this helps prevent fraud and abuse. (@claudeai)
• There is no manual option. Anthropic’s documentation does not describe any way to request verification yourself, so the practical step is to wait for the email.

What can still stop you on Ultra

“No 5-hour limit” does not mean unlimited. According to the Ultra plan article:

• The weekly limit still applies to all models together. If you use Claude heavily for two days, you can use up the whole week’s allowance. Without a 5-hour limit, nothing slows you down along the way, so it is easier to burn through the week early.
• Claude Fable has its own weekly limit. On Max and Ultra, Fable is included for up to half of your weekly limit. (Claude pricing)
• Anthropic can add other limits. The Help Center says it “may limit your usage in other ways, such as weekly and monthly caps or model and feature usage,” and that it does not guarantee uninterrupted service.
• Everything uses the same allowance. Chats on the web, desktop app and phone, plus Claude Code, all count toward the same limits. (Claude pricing FAQ)

A practical habit on Ultra: check the weekly bar in Settings > Usage at the start of a heavy day, not after you get blocked. The weekly limit resets at a fixed time assigned to your account, and Settings > Usage shows your next reset time. (Max plan article)

Limit resets work differently. If you have a limit reset, on Max you can use it to refill either your five-hour session or your weekly limit. On Ultra there is no session to refill, so a reset refills your weekly limits. (Max and Ultra Help Center articles)

Max or Ultra: which one should you pay for?

Both plans include Claude Code, Claude Opus, Sonnet and Haiku, Fable up to half your weekly limit, and priority access at busy times. (Claude pricing) The real differences are how much you can use each week, whether there is a 5-hour cap, and how big the API credit is.

Choose Max ($100) if:

• You mostly hit the 5-hour limit only now and then, and waiting for the reset is fine.
• Your weekly bar in Settings > Usage usually still has room at the end of the week.
• You can make your usage last longer by using cheaper models for routine work. Our guide Claude Opus 5.5 vs Sonnet 5.5 vs Haiku 5.5 explains why Claude Code’s default of Opus uses up limits fastest.

Choose Ultra ($200) if:

• You run long Claude Code sessions or long background tasks and the 5-hour limit keeps stopping you in the middle of work.
• You regularly use up Max’s weekly allowance. Ultra’s weekly allowance (10x Pro) is twice Max’s (5x Pro).
• You would use the larger API credit ($200 instead of $100 a month) for your own apps or agents. Note that these credits are for the Claude API and agent tools, not for interactive Claude Code. See our explainer on Max and Team API credits.

If you only hit limits occasionally, turning on usage credits with a spending cap can cost less than upgrading. Pro, Max and Ultra all support usage credits. (Claude pricing) Our guide Claude Code usage limit reached? 5 ways to keep working shows where to switch them on.

How upgrading or switching works

All of this comes from Anthropic’s Help Center (Max, Ultra):

• Max to Ultra: you are charged a prorated amount for the rest of your billing cycle. If you already claimed monthly API credits, you get prorated extra credits right away, then the full $200 each cycle after that.
• Annual Pro to Max or Ultra: if the unused part of your annual Pro plan is worth more than the new plan’s price, the difference becomes account credit for future bills. This only works if you use the same billing address as your Pro subscription. If your address changed, Anthropic says you must cancel Pro, wait until it ends, and then subscribe again.
• Subscribed through Google Play: you pay the full price of the new plan when you upgrade. The unused value of your old plan becomes extra days, so your renewal date moves a few days later.
• Monthly only: Max and Ultra cannot be paid yearly.
• No discounts: Anthropic says it has no standing discounts for Pro, Max or Ultra, and its support team cannot issue coupons.

Common mix-ups

• Older guides still say “Max 5x” and “Max 20x”. That includes some of Anthropic’s own older help pages and many blog posts. Read “Max 5x” as Max and “Max 20x” as Ultra.
• “Ultra” here is a Claude plan, not a model. It has nothing to do with model names or Claude Code commands.
• Team and Enterprise are not part of this change. The Max and Ultra articles cover paid plans for individual consumers only. (Help Center)
• Phone app prices can differ. The $100 and $200 prices are for web subscriptions; Anthropic says mobile pricing may vary depending on your app platform.

FAQ

Did my price change? No. Max is still $100/month and Ultra is still $200/month. (@claudeai)

Did my weekly limit change? No. Anthropic says weekly limits remain unchanged.

Does the $100 Max plan lose its 5-hour limit too? No. Max still has a 5-hour limit and a weekly limit, each 5x Pro. (Max plan article)

How long until my Ultra account is verified? Anthropic has not published a timeline. It says verification is automatic, depends on factors such as account and payment history, and that you will get an email when the limit is removed.

Does this affect Claude Code? Yes. Claude Code uses the same allowance as the Claude apps, so on a verified Ultra account Claude Code sessions are no longer cut off by a 5-hour limit, only by the weekly limit. To make the weekly allowance last longer, see how to cut Claude Code’s token overhead.

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