Choose the right subscription plan for Claude Code

Link copied

Attach video time

For Claude Code, you'll realistically be choosing between the Pro plan and the Max plan, which comes in two variations: Max5 and Max20. Which one makes sense depends on how often you use AI in your coding workflow.

You can grab the current plans and pricing from https://claude.com/pricing. It's worth keeping that page open as you read through this lesson, since the tiers and their limits do get adjusted from time to time.

How the limits work

Every plan has a usage limit that resets on a rolling 5-hour window, and paid plans have a weekly limit on top of that. Keep in mind that Claude Code shares this pool with Claude on the web, desktop, and mobile. If you're chatting with Claude a lot in the app, you'll have less left over for coding.

Max5 is the sweet spot for most developers

If you're just getting started with AI-assisted development, or only use it occasionally, the Pro plan is a fine place to start. But if you plan on using Claude Code every day, I'd recommend starting right on the Max5 plan.

You're unlikely to hit the weekly limit on Max5, but you may run into the 5-hour limit during long, intense sessions. If that happens to you regularly, that's when Max20 starts to make sense. It's also the plan to reach for if you like running multiple Claude Code sessions at the same time. If you find it hard to focus on more than one task at a time, like I do -- Max5 will probably be plenty.

Fable, Anthropic's most capable model, is also limited by plan. On Pro, it's only available through usage credits, and on both Max plans it can use up to half of your weekly limit.

It's also worth remembering that how you work matters just as much as which plan you're on. Clearing your context between tasks, and dropping down to a lighter model like Sonnet or Haiku for more mechanical work, will stretch your plan much further than you'd expect.

When you hit your limit

When you do hit a limit, you can wait for it to reset, upgrade your plan, or turn on usage credits. Usage credits connect you to the API at standard rates until your limit resets.

Note: You can set these up with the /usage-credits slash command, which directs you to https://claude.ai/settings/usage, Claude's Usage Settings page, where you can define your extra usage parameters.

This is really helpful when you're close to finishing something, but don't want to upgrade just to run a few more commands. Paying a few extra bucks is far more prudent. Or, you can just take a break from your computer for a bit until the limit resets. Just don't rely on the API full-time, since it gets expensive fast compared to a subscription.

Let your usage guide you

Run the /usage slash command every now and then to see where you stand against your limits. After a few weeks, you'll have a good feel for which plan fits.

If you're on Pro and keep getting limit notices, move up to Max5. If you're on Max5 and regularly hit the 5-hour limit, Max20 is probably worth it. And if you rarely come close, you're right where you need to be.