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UsageMeter

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Which Claude plan do I need?

Six questions about how you use Claude and the limits you hit: the plan that fits, from the prices and multipliers Anthropic publishes, nothing else.

What do you use Claude for?
Your plan today
How often do you hit the 5-hour limit?

The session limit: the 5-hour limit message on claude.ai, “You’ve hit your session limit” in Claude Code.

And the weekly limit?

“You’ve hit your weekly limit” in Claude Code; Settings › Usage shows it everywhere. Free has no published weekly limit.

Do you want Claude Fable?
Your monthly budget for Claude

Anthropic’s US prices, taxes excluded; prices in other currencies vary.

Our pick

Keep your plan:

Pro

$20 a month · $17 a month billed yearly

At least 5× Free’s usage per 5-hour session

Why

  • Hitting the 5-hour limit a few times a month on Pro doesn’t call for a bigger plan: you can wait for the reset, or use usage credits.

Or: stay, and turn on usage credits for the overflow: billed at standard API rates, separately from the subscription, they can cost less than moving up to Max 5x ($80 more a month).

UsageMeter shows which limit you actually hit

Prices and multipliers published by Anthropic, checked on September 24, 2026. A suggestion from your answers, not a promise: Anthropic can change its limits.

The four plans side by side

Anthropic’s US prices and published multipliers, checked on September 24, 2026.

FeatureFreePropickMax 5xMax 20x
Price a month (US)$0$20$17 a month billed yearly$100$200
Usage per 5-hour sessionThe baseAt least 5× Free5× Pro20× Pro
Weekly limitNone publishedYes, size not publishedYes, size not publishedYes, size not published
Claude CodeNoIncludedIncludedIncluded
Claude FableNot availableUsage credits onlyUp to 50 % of the weekly limitsUp to 50 % of the weekly limits
Usage creditsNoAvailableAvailableAvailable

No account, nothing stored: your answers only live in this page’s address, so you can share it.

Not sure which limit stops you? UsageMeter shows every Claude limit live on claude.ai, and which one is closest.

Install for freeChrome, Edge, Firefox · free

How the picker decides

It starts from what you need: Claude Code comes with Pro and up, Claude Fable is included from Max 5x. Then it looks at the limits you hit. The 5-hour limit hit every week or most days calls for the next plan up; a few times a month, waiting for the reset or turning on usage credits can do. Last, your budget caps the answer.

It only uses what Anthropic publishes: the US prices and the multipliers per 5-hour session. Anthropic publishes no limits in tokens and no multiplier for the weekly limit, so the picker never claims how many messages or tokens a plan gives, nor how much further a bigger plan takes your week.

What each plan gives

Pro gives at least 5× Free’s usage per 5-hour session; Max 5x and Max 20x give 5× and 20× Pro’s. Every paid plan also has a weekly limit shared by all models, whose size isn’t published. Claude Code comes with Pro and Max; Claude Fable is included in the Max plans, up to 50 % of the weekly limits, and runs on usage credits only on Pro.

US prices, taxes excluded, checked on September 24, 2026: Pro $20 a month ($17 a month billed yearly), Max 5x $100, Max 20x $200. Prices in other currencies vary.

Usage credits or a bigger plan?

Usage credits let Pro and Max keep working after a limit, billed at standard API rates, separately from the subscription, with a monthly spending cap you set in Settings › Usage. Your 5-hour limit still resets every five hours.

For a few overflows a month they can cost less than the next plan up; hitting a limit every week is when a bigger plan starts to make sense. The token counter and the Claude Code cost calculator put an API price on your usage.

One pool for chats and Claude Code

claude.ai, the desktop and mobile apps, Cowork and Claude Code all draw from the same limits. If you chat and code on the same account, answer for both together: a long Claude Code session eats into the 5-hour limit your chats use too.

Questions

Is Claude Max worth it over Pro?

If you hit Pro’s 5-hour limit every week or most days, or you want Claude Fable included, Max is the next step: Max 5x gives 5× Pro’s usage per 5-hour session for $100 a month, Max 20x gives 20× for $200. If you hit it only a few times a month, waiting for the reset or turning on usage credits can be enough.

Does Max raise the weekly limit?

Max plans give more usage than Pro, but Anthropic publishes their multiplier per 5-hour session only. Every paid plan has a weekly limit, and its size isn’t published for any of them.

Can I use Claude Fable on Pro?

Only with usage credits, billed at standard API rates. On Max 5x and Max 20x, Fable is included up to 50 % of the weekly limits; past that, usage credits or another model. Free doesn’t have it.

Does the Free plan include Claude Code?

No. Claude Code comes with Pro and Max. On a paid plan it draws from the same limits as your chats.

What are usage credits?

A way to keep working once you reach a limit on Pro or Max: usage past the limit is billed at standard API rates, separately from the subscription, up to a monthly cap you choose. You turn them on in Settings › Usage.

How do I know which limit I hit?

Claude says it in the message it shows when you reach a limit, and Settings › Usage lists every limit with its reset time. The UsageMeter extension keeps all of them on screen and can show the closest one on its toolbar icon.

Related pages

Sources

Checked against Anthropic’s pages on September 24, 2026. Anthropic can change these rules at any time.

UsageMeter is an independent tool, not affiliated with Anthropic. Claude and Claude Code are Anthropic’s products.