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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. Ultra has none once Anthropic has verified the account.

And the weekly limit?

“You’ve hit your weekly limit” in Claude Code; Settings › Usage shows it everywhere. Every plan has one, Free included.

Do you want Claude Fable?
Your monthly budget for Claude

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

Keep your plan:

Pro

$20 a month · $17 a month billed yearly

More usage than Free, every 5 hours and every week

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 ($80 more a month).

UsageMeter shows which limit you actually hit

A suggestion from your answers, not a promise: Anthropic can change its limits.

The four plans side by side

FeatureFreeProPickMaxUltra
Price a month (US)$0$20$17 a month billed yearly$100$200
Usage every 5 hoursLimitedMore than Free5× ProNo 5-hour limit (verified accounts)
Usage every weekLimited, size not publishedThe base, size not published5× Pro10× Pro
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.

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How the picker decides

It starts from what you need: Claude Code comes with Pro and up, Claude Fable is included from Max. 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 usage multipliers against Pro, per 5 hours and per week. Anthropic publishes no limits in tokens or messages, so the picker never claims how many messages or tokens a plan gives.

What each plan gives

Pro gives more usage than Free. Max gives 5× Pro’s usage every 5 hours and every week; Ultra gives 10× Pro’s usage every week and has no 5-hour limit once Anthropic has verified the account. The size of the weekly limit itself, shared by all models, isn’t published for any plan. Claude Code comes with Pro, Max and Ultra; Claude Fable is included in Max and Ultra, up to 50 % of the weekly limits, and runs on usage credits only on Pro.

US prices, taxes excluded, checked on October 30, 2026: Pro $20 a month ($17 a month billed yearly), Max $100 a month, Ultra $200 a month (Max and Ultra are billed monthly only). Max and Ultra also include monthly Claude API credits for your own apps, which don’t extend the plan’s limits. Prices in other currencies vary.

Usage credits or a bigger plan?

Usage credits let Pro, Max and Ultra keep working after a limit, billed at standard API rates, separately from the subscription, with a monthly spending cap you set in Settings › Usage. A 5-hour limit, where your plan has one, 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 same limits as your chats.

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: it gives 5× Pro’s usage every 5 hours and every week for $100 a month. Ultra, at $200 a month, gives 10× Pro’s usage every week and has no 5-hour limit once Anthropic has verified the account. If you hit a limit only a few times a month, waiting for the reset or turning on usage credits can be enough.

Do Max and Ultra raise the weekly limit?

Yes: Max gives 5× Pro’s usage every week, Ultra 10×. Ultra’s 10× isn’t a cut from the former Max 20x: Anthropic says the 20× applied to the 5-hour session, and weekly limits didn’t change. The size of the weekly limit itself isn’t published, in tokens or messages, for any plan.

Can I use Claude Fable on Pro?

Only with usage credits, billed at standard API rates. On Max and Ultra, 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, Max and Ultra. 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, Max or Ultra: 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 October 30, 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.