Claude Ultra plan — Max 20x renamed, still $200 a month, minus the 5-hour limit
Claude Ultra is the new name Anthropic gave its $200-a-month Max 20x plan on October 30, 2026. The price is unchanged and existing subscribers were moved over automatically. The $100-a-month Max 5x is now simply Max. Only one thing really changed: verified Ultra accounts no longer have the five-hour usage limit. New accounts keep a temporary five-hour limit until Anthropic verifies them automatically from account and payment history. Weekly limits remain, so Ultra gets 10 times Pro's usage each week, with a weekly limit shared across all models and a separate weekly limit for Fable. Anthropic explained that the old 20x label referred to the five-hour limit, not the weekly one, which caused confusion
The three lines
- The change — Max 20x ($200) becomes Ultra, Max 5x ($100) becomes Max; prices and existing subscriptions unchanged
- The key point — verified Ultra accounts have no five-hour limit; new accounts keep a temporary limit until auto-verified
- Unchanged — weekly limits (10x Pro) and a separate Fable weekly limit; API credits included
Key questions
- claude ultra price
- **$200 a month on the web, the same as Max 20x, monthly billing only.** | Plan | Monthly price | Former name | |---|---|---| | Free | $0 | — | | Pro | $20 ($17 a month billed annually) | — | | Max | $100 | Max 5x | | Ultra | $200 (mobile may differ) | Max 20x |
- claude ultra 5 hour limit
- **Verified accounts have no five-hour limit. New accounts awaiting verification get a temporary five-hour limit.** | Account status | Five-hour limit | How to tell | |---|---|---| | Verified (most existing subscribers) | None | No 'Current session' bar under Settings > Usage | | Unverified (new) | Temporary limit | Lifted after automatic verification; email notice | | Phone verification at checkout | Separate | Does not lift the temporary limit |
- claude max vs ultra
- **Ultra gives twice the weekly usage, no five-hour limit and, as reported, twice the API credits.** | Item | Max ($100) | Ultra ($200) | |---|---|---| | Five-hour limit | Yes (5x Pro) | None for verified accounts | | Weekly usage | 5x Pro | 10x Pro | | Fable | Up to half the weekly limit | Separate weekly limit | | API credits (monthly) | $100 | $200 (reported) | | Claude Code | Included | Included |
The name changed, the price stayed the same, and one limit disappeared. On October 30, 2026, Anthropic tidied up the names of its individual Claude plans. The $200-a-month Max 20x became Ultra, and the $100-a-month Max 5x became simply Max. Existing subscribers moved to the new names automatically, with nothing to do.
The substantive change applies only to Ultra. Verified Ultra accounts no longer have the five-hour usage limit. For developers who ran multi-hour jobs in Claude Code and then had to wait out the five-hour window, the biggest annoyance is gone. Weekly limits remain, though. No five-hour limit does not mean no usage limit.
1. What changed — the plans at a glance
| Plan | Monthly price | Five-hour limit | Weekly usage | Fable | API credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Yes | Limited | — | — |
| Pro | $20 ($17/month annual) | Yes | Baseline (1x) | Via usage credits | — |
| Max (formerly Max 5x) | $100 | Yes (5x Pro) | 5x Pro | Up to half the weekly limit (reported) | $100/month (reported) |
| Ultra (formerly Max 20x) | $200 | None for verified accounts | 10x Pro | Separate weekly limit | $200/month (reported) |
The number to notice is Ultra's weekly usage: 10 times Pro. A plan called 20x was 10x on a weekly basis. Anthropic's head of subscription products apologized for the confusion, saying the 20x label referred to the five-hour limit, not the weekly one. With the five-hour limit gone, the basis for '20x' disappeared too, so the name changed.
2. Removing the five-hour limit — who and when
| Group | What applies |
|---|---|
| Most existing Max 20x subscribers | Lifted in phases starting October 30 |
| New Ultra subscribers | Temporary five-hour limit until automatic verification |
| How verification works | Anthropic decides automatically from account and payment history |
| Phone verification at checkout | A separate step; does not lift the temporary limit |
| Notice of removal | |
| How to check | If there is no 'Current session' bar under Settings > Usage, you are verified |
The temporary limit on new accounts is there to prevent fraud and abuse. It reads as a guard against people creating multiple limit-free accounts to resell or to run mass automation. The real rise in thefts of other people's AI accounts and keys is covered in "What is API key theft (LLMjacking)?".
3. What stays the same — weekly limits and Fable
| Limit | Ultra |
|---|---|
| Weekly limit across all models | Yes (10x Pro) |
| Fable-only weekly limit | Yes, separate |
| Further caps | Anthropic may set weekly or monthly caps and limit specific models or features |
| Service guarantee | Uninterrupted service is not guaranteed |
| Limit resets | A reset you hold can restore the weekly limit |
| Rate of use | Varies by model, conversation length and file size |
So Ultra users still hit a limit on a weekly basis. What changed is the rhythm within a day. Before, you could work in bursts until the five-hour window closed and then had to wait; now you can burst as much as you like within the weekly limit. That structure favors people who run long agent jobs. How long the same model keeps working depending on its execution environment is explained in "What an agent harness is".
4. What Ultra includes and the sign-up terms
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Included | Claude Code, monthly API credits, priority access to new models and features, long background tasks (reports, spreadsheets, presentations) |
| Billing | Monthly only (no annual) |
| Who it is for | Individual plans (not Team or Enterprise) |
| Switching from annual Pro | Credit issued if the remaining balance exceeds the Ultra price; billing address must match |
| Switching on Google Play | Full new price charged; remaining value extended as extra days |
| Mobile pricing | May differ by app platform |
5. Why now — OpenAI raised its limits a day earlier
| Company | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | October 29 | Doubled work and Codex usage limits on ChatGPT Pro plans; dropped plan to cut limits on the $200 plan |
| Anthropic | October 30 | Removed Ultra's five-hour limit; tidied up plan names |
One day apart, the two companies moved to hold on to power users paying $100 to $200 a month. OpenAI withdrew its plan to reduce limits on its $200 plan after user backlash. In coding agents, GitHub joined the cost race by letting users pick an effort level instead of a model ("What is GitHub Copilot Fusion?"). The sharp fall in AI API prices over four months is covered in "Why AI API prices fell up to 80% in four months".
6. Frequently asked questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What do existing Max 20x subscribers need to do? | Nothing. They are now on Ultra at the same price |
| Did Max ($100) lose its five-hour limit too? | No. Only Ultra drops the five-hour limit |
| Is Ultra unlimited? | No. The weekly limit (10x Pro) and the Fable weekly limit remain |
| I signed up and still see a five-hour limit | New accounts have a temporary limit until automatic verification; an email arrives when it is lifted |
| Can I get Ultra on a Team plan? | Ultra is an individual plan |
7. What remains and what is unconfirmed
- API credit amounts: $200 a month on Ultra and $100 on Max come from one outlet's report. The Help Center does not give amounts.
- Local pricing: Prices outside the US, and in-app prices on mobile, could not be confirmed; Anthropic says mobile prices may differ.
- Rollout completion: Anthropic has not said when removal of the five-hour limit will be complete for all existing subscribers.
Sources
- Claude Help Center — What is the Ultra plan?
- ShiftDelete — Claude Ultra Plan Replaces Max 20x and Drops the 5-Hour Limit (2026-10-30)
- Superpower Daily — Anthropic renames its $200 Claude Max 20x plan Ultra, with automatic migration (2026-10-30)
- Windows Report — Anthropic Renames Claude Max 5x and 20x Plans, Removes Ultra's 5-Hour Limit for Verified Accounts (2026-10-30)
- Digg — Claude announces Max plan renames and phased removal of five-hour limit for verified Ultra accounts (2026-10-30)