Claude Ultra: $200 plan drops 5-hour limit

Anthropic renamed its two Claude Max plans on the 30th of October 2026 and dropped the 5-hour limit for verified accounts on the top one. Max 5x is now Max at 100 dollars a month, and Max 20x is now Ultra at 200 dollars, the company said on X.

Prices stay the same and subscribers need to do nothing, Anthropic's post said. Weekly limits stay as they were.

Ultra keeps a weekly limit of 10 times Pro usage

Ultra gives "10 times the Pro plan's usage every week", Anthropic's help page on the plan says. Verified Ultra accounts have no 5-hour limit, the same page says.

Max keeps both limits, at 5 times Pro usage every 5 hours and every week, Anthropic's price page shows. Pro costs 20 dollars a month when billed monthly.

Why the name changed: 20x applied only to the 5-hour limit

Mike Overell, who leads product for Claude subscriptions, explained the change on X the same day. The top plan launched in April 2025 with one limit, 5 hours, at 20 times Pro, he wrote.

When weekly limits came, Anthropic set them at 10 times Pro. "I get that some new users assumed 20x applied to both limits," he wrote, and he said sorry.

Below we break down what each plan buys per dollar each week

Pro gives 1 unit of weekly usage for 20 dollars. Max gives 5 units for 100 dollars, and Ultra gives 10 units for 200 dollars.

So every plan buys 1 Pro week for each 20 dollars, by our arithmetic. Ultra's change is about pace: users can "keep building without getting blocked mid-session", Overell wrote.

Verification is automatic and uses account and payment history

Anthropic verifies Ultra accounts by itself, using signals such as account and payment history, its help page says. Until then a temporary limit applies, to help prevent fraud and abuse.

A phone check at checkout does not remove that limit, the page says. Users get an email when the limit is lifted, Anthropic's post said.

Key facts

Announced by Anthropic on X on the 30th of October 2026.

Max 5x is now Max at 100 dollars, and Max 20x is now Ultra at 200 dollars.

No 5-hour limit for verified Ultra accounts, rolling out in stages.

Weekly limits unchanged: Max 5 times Pro, Ultra 10 times Pro.