On October 30, 2026, Anthropic renamed its top Claude plan “Ultra” and removed the 5-hour usage limit for verified subscribers. Some users had read the “20x” in the old plan name as applying to weekly usage too, so the company cleaned up the names and restated the terms. Verified subscribers on the $200-a-month Ultra plan can now use Claude without 5-hour blocks, up to their weekly limit.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| What | “Max 5x” became “Max” and “Max 20x” became “Ultra”; the 5-hour limit is removed for verified Ultra subscribers |
| Who | Anthropic (announced on X by Mike Overell, head of Claude subscription products) |
| When | Announced October 30, 2026 (local time) |
| Price and limits | Max: $100 a month, 5-hour and weekly limits both 5x Pro. Ultra: $200 a month, weekly limit stays at 10x Pro |
| What it means for you | Total usage is unchanged, but Ultra users can spend their weekly allowance whenever they want, in one burst if needed |
What happened
Anthropic said on X that it is renaming its two paid Claude tiers above Pro. The $100 “Max 5x” plan is now “Max,” and the $200 “Max 20x” plan is now “Ultra.” Prices are unchanged, and existing subscribers do not need to switch plans.
The bigger change is that Ultra no longer has a 5-hour usage limit. Once an account is verified, an Ultra user can keep working until the weekly limit runs out, without being blocked every five hours. Verification happens automatically. There is no way to apply for it yet, and an email arrives when the limit is lifted. Most existing subscribers are covered first, while new accounts keep a temporary limit until verification finishes.
Overell acknowledged that some new users took the “20x” label to cover both limits, and apologized: “we should have explained it better.” He added that the rollout is staged to prevent abuse and fraud.
Why it matters
This is a change in how usage can be spent, not an increase in how much you get. Ultra’s weekly limit is still 10x Pro’s, and Max is still 5x Pro on both the 5-hour and weekly limits. What changes is whether you can concentrate the same weekly usage into particular stretches of time.
Developers who run long coding sessions in Claude Code look like the biggest winners. Until now, even with weekly usage left, hitting the 5-hour limit meant waiting for the next reset. Verified Ultra users can skip that wait. The catch is that usage in Claude on the web and in Claude Code counts against the same subscription limit, so heavy bursts will drain the weekly allowance faster.
Background
When Anthropic launched the Max plans in April 2025, it described the $200 plan as giving 20 times the usage of the $20 Pro plan. At that point limits only reset every 5 hours, so “20x” was accurate.
That changed in July 2025, as more users ran Claude Code continuously for long stretches. Anthropic introduced weekly limits from August 28, 2025, citing the need to stop 24-hour continuous use, account sharing and resale of the service. On the $200 plan, the 5-hour limit stayed at 20x Pro, but the weekly limit was set at 10x. The name stayed “Max 20x,” which created the confusion.
Competitors are moving in a similar direction. On October 29, 2026, OpenAI raised task usage by up to 2x on its Pro and business plans and dropped a plan to scale back its $200 plan. As AI agents increasingly work for long periods, providers seem to be easing limits for paying subscribers.
What to watch
If you are on Ultra, first check whether the verification email has arrived. If you do a lot of Claude Code work, plan how you will spread your weekly limit. With the 5-hour cap gone, it is easy to burn through the allowance early and find your work stopped late in the week.
If you are choosing a plan, look at the 5-hour limit and the weekly limit separately rather than relying on the multiplier in the name. Anthropic has updated its official pricing page and Ultra guidance to reflect the changes. For a wider comparison, see our comparison of ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Google AI Pro. Overell also hinted at further improvements, but their content and timing have not been made public.
