Claude Ultra removes the five-hour cap for verified accounts

Anthropic is removing the five-hour usage cap for verified accounts on its $200-a-month Claude plan, which it renamed Ultra on October 30. Previously called Max 20x, the plan keeps its price and weekly limits. The company said the change starts that day with most existing subscribers. The $100 Max 5x plan becomes Max.

Verified Ultra subscribers can distribute their work within the remaining weekly allowance without a separate session ceiling. The current pricing page describes Ultra as offering ten times Pro’s weekly usage. Existing Max 20x subscribers transfer automatically.

Account verification happens automatically. Anthropic says it uses factors such as account and payment history to help prevent fraud and abuse. Newer accounts retain a temporary limit while verification is pending. Subscribers receive an email when that restriction is removed; the announcement describes a rollout beginning with most existing subscribers.

The Ultra help page distinguishes that process from verifying a phone number at checkout. Completing the phone step leaves the temporary restriction in place until the account itself qualifies. A verified account can be identified by the disappearance of the Current session bar in Settings > Usage.

Weekly and model-specific limits remain

The five-hour window normally begins with the first message and resets in full five hours later. Activity in Claude on the web, Claude Code and Claude Desktop draws from the same subscription pool. Consumption depends on conversation length and complexity, features, the model and effort level, so the allowance has no fixed message count. Each account also has an assigned weekly reset day and time that stays fixed regardless of when work starts or a subscription begins.

Ultra retains an allowance across all models and a separate weekly ceiling for Fable. Fable 5 and 5.1 are included for up to half the weekly allowance and also consume that overall budget. Anthropic says Fable consumes the weekly allowance faster than other models, with the same rules across its interfaces. After reaching the Fable ceiling, subscribers can use another model within their remaining allowance, or continue with Fable through separately purchased usage credits.

Max continues to have a five-hour window. Its help page specifies five times Pro’s usage in both the session and weekly allowances. Max and Ultra are individual consumer plans billed monthly. The listed $100 and $200 prices apply to web subscriptions; mobile subscription prices may vary by platform. Upgrading from Max to Ultra incurs a prorated charge for the remaining billing period, with claimed API credits also adjusted proportionally before subsequent cycles receive the higher amount.

Usage beyond the included allowance can incur additional charges. With usage credits enabled, requests switch to consumption-based billing at standard API rates after a plan limit is reached. Those charges are separate from the subscription fee. Work continues until the configured monthly spending limit is reached, or the credit balance runs out with automatic reload disabled. Mobile subscribers must enable and purchase usage credits on the web. The usage dashboard distinguishes included usage from credit consumption.

Ultra’s included $200 monthly API credit is a separate budget for the Claude Platform. After being claimed, it goes to a Console organization linked to the subscription and supports building applications and agents with the API. It cannot pay for interactive Claude Code or extra usage in Claude or Cowork.

Those API credits refresh each billing cycle, with unused amounts expiring at its end. New subscribers become eligible after seven days on a qualifying plan. Each subscription links to one Console organization, whose members share the balance. Monthly credits are spent before purchased credits. After the monthly credit runs out, API use draws from purchased credits or automatic reload. Without another balance, requests stop until the next monthly credit arrives.