Anthropic rebrands Claude plans and removes Ultra's five-hour usage cap

A shift in plan branding

Anthropic recently updated the names of its two highest-tier Claude subscription plans. The company is moving away from the previous naming convention that explicitly stated the multiplier of usage compared to the Pro plan. This rebranding aims to simplify the product lineup for heavy users who require more capacity than the standard offering provides.

As reported by The Next Web, the plan previously known as Max 5x has been renamed to Max. This subscription continues to cost $100 a month in the United States and €90 a month in Europe. While the name has changed, the core pricing structure remains consistent with what users previously paid for the service.

The higher-tier plan, formerly known as Max 20x, has been rebranded as Ultra. This plan carries a monthly price tag of $200 in the United States and €180 in Europe. These changes were announced by the company on social media, where they confirmed that existing subscribers do not need to take any manual action to see these updates.

Removing the five-hour cap

One of the most significant technical changes in this update involves the removal of a specific usage restriction. Previously, the high-end plans were subject to a limit that reset every five hours. This meant that even with a premium subscription, users could hit a ceiling of activity within a short window of time.

Verified Ultra accounts are no longer subject to this five-hour reset. By removing this constraint, Anthropic is allowing its most dedicated users to maintain a more consistent flow of work without being interrupted by a recurring time-based cap. This shift is intended to provide a smoother experience for those who use the model for intensive, long-duration tasks.

However, the company is still maintaining weekly limits for all subscribers. While the five-hour hurdle is gone for Ultra users, the total amount of usage allowed per week remains a governing factor. This balance allows Anthropic to manage its computing resources while still providing a higher ceiling for its paying customers.

Verification and fraud prevention

While most current subscribers saw these changes take effect immediately on Friday, there is a caveat for new accounts. Newer users may still see a temporary limit on their usage. Anthropic stated that these temporary restrictions remain in place until the company can verify the accounts of new subscribers.

The company explained that this verification step is a necessary measure to help prevent fraud and abuse of their systems. By ensuring that the people using the high-capacity plans are legitimate users, Anthropic can better protect its infrastructure from automated attacks or unauthorized access. Once a new account is verified, the temporary limit will be lifted automatically.

Users who fall into this category will receive an email notification once their account has been cleared and the limits are removed. This process ensures that the high-capacity Ultra plan remains available to the intended audience while maintaining the security of the underlying AI models. The company emphasized that for most existing subscribers, there is nothing they need to do to receive these updates.

Changes to usage and credits

The updated pricing page now provides a clearer breakdown of what each plan actually includes. The Max plan is now listed as providing five times the usage of the Pro plan every five hours and every week. This clarifies the relationship between the different tiers of service and how much extra capacity a user is actually purchasing.

For the Ultra plan, the documentation now lists it as providing ten times the usage of the Pro plan every week. This is a notable shift from the previous 20x designation. Despite the change in the stated multiplier, the plan remains the highest tier available for individual users seeking maximum access to the model.

Additionally, the Ultra plan now includes $200 a month in API credits, which is an increase from the $100 provided with the Max plan. Both of these premium plans also include access to Fable, which is Anthropic's top model. Users can access Fable for up to half of their total weekly limit on these specific plans.

Context of recent updates

These rebranding and limit changes come amidst a series of adjustments to how Anthropic manages its service. In the past, the company has frequently tweaked its usage limits based on available computing power. For example, in May, Anthropic doubled the five-hour limits for Claude Code after gaining new computing capacity from SpaceX.

The company has also been active in policing how its models are accessed by third parties. In April, Anthropic blocked certain third-party agent tools, such as OpenClaw, from using Claude subscriptions. These moves suggest a broader strategy of balancing user access with the technical and financial costs of running large-scale AI models.

The recent rebranding of the Max plans follows a period of scrutiny regarding how usage was communicated to customers. A lawsuit filed in June alleged that Anthropic had oversold the usage limits on both Max plans. By clarifying the multipliers and removing the five-hour cap for Ultra, the company appears to be refining its service definitions to be more transparent for its power users.