Anthropic renamed its two priciest Claude plans on Oct. 30, 2026. The $100 tier, once called Max 5x, is now simply Max. Its $200 sibling, once Max 20x, is now Ultra1. Current subscribers moved to the new names overnight, their billing untouched.
Ultra also lost its five-hour limit that same day. Verified subscribers can now run past that window in one long sitting. The weekly ceiling behind both plans held exactly where it already stood14.
Overell Explains a Name That Confused Everyone
Mike Overell leads product for Claude subscriptions at Anthropic. He posted the explanation himself, in a thread on X2.
"When we launched our top plan in April 2025, it had a single limit: 5 hours. It gave you 20x Pro's limit, so we called it Max 20x," Overell wrote2.
Pro is Anthropic's $20 entry plan, the baseline every multiplier measures against. Anthropic added a second limit four months later.
A weekly cap arrived on Aug. 28, 2025. Anthropic fixed it at ten times Pro's allowance on the $200 plan, while the five-hour window stayed at twenty times3. Two numbers now lived under one name.
Overell owned the mix-up. "I get that some new users assumed 20x applied to both limits. We could have done better here, and I'm sorry," Overell wrote2.
Long, uninterrupted sessions are what coders wanted back. Claude Code is Anthropic's tool for agentic coding work, the kind that can run for hours at a stretch. A five-hour stop in the middle of a build cost real time.
What Changes, and What Stays
A label is just a label. Removing a cap changes what a subscriber can do24.
Max holds at $100 a month. It still caps weekly usage at five times Pro's allowance, inside its own five-hour window too4.
Ultra holds at $200. Its weekly cap stays at ten times Pro's allowance, and its API credit doubled to $200 a month along with the rename4. The five-hour window is gone for verified accounts, starting today1.
Coders running Claude Code felt that old window most. Long agent sessions are exactly what the tool is built for, and a five-hour stop interrupted exactly that work5.
Kahn's Lawsuit Says Max 20x Delivered About 7 Times Pro, Short of 20
Usage multiplier over the Pro plan, the old plan name against the class action's own estimate, April 2025 to June 2026
Each row is one plan: the blue dot is the multiplier the old name promised, the magenta dot is the multiplier the lawsuit says it actually delivered, and the rod is the gap between them.
The complaint gives a range for Max 20x, six to eight times Pro; this chart marks its midpoint, seven.
Sources: Android Headlines [9]; Tech Times [10]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Old plan name | Lawsuit's estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Max 5x | 5.0x | 3.5x |
| Max 20x | 20.0x | 7.0x |
Verification decides who feels the change first. A new Ultra subscriber keeps a temporary five-hour limit until Anthropic clears the account. That check runs on payment and account history alone, and Overell's team promises an email once it finishes2.
A Lawsuit Already Made This Case
Karl Kahn raised this question first, in federal court. He filed a class action against Anthropic on June 14, 2026, months before the rename810.
The complaint names a precise gap. It alleges Max 20x delivered six to eight times Pro's usage, about seven on average, short of the twenty promised. Max 5x delivered about 3.5 times, short of the five910.
Kahn felt that gap firsthand. One five-hour coding sprint on Max 20x burned 15 percent of his weekly quota, the complaint says. He paid for extra usage to keep working910.
He lives in Washington, D.C., and subscribed to Max 5x before he upgraded to Max 20x. His suit asks the court to certify a class covering everyone who bought either tier since the plan's April 9, 2025 launch10.
Kati Daffan represents Kahn and the class now suing Anthropic. She co-founded Vaca Daffan LLP after years at the Federal Trade Commission, and she spoke to the gap in plain terms. "It's really not easy for a normal consumer to know if they're getting the amount they were promised, or if they're not, because that information simply isn't provided," Daffan said8.
Anthropic Took 18 Months to Drop the Cap It Set in April 2025
Key dates in Claude's Max and Ultra plans and the lawsuit over their usage math, April 2025 to October 2026
Each pin marks one date in the plan's history, from its launch through the lawsuit to the rename that dropped its five-hour limit.
Sources: Claude on X [1]; Mike Overell on X [2]; Anthropic on X [3]; Decrypt [8]; Android Headlines [9]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 9, 2025 | Max 20x launches. 5-hour window set at 20x Pro |
| Aug. 28, 2025 | Weekly caps added. Set at 10x Pro for Max 20x |
| June 14, 2026 | Kahn sues Anthropic. N.D. Cal. class action filed |
| Sept. 8, 2026 | Suit adds plaintiffs. Daffan's case grows in Sept. |
| Oct. 30, 2026 | Max 20x becomes Ultra. 5-hour window dropped, verified |
Two Readings of One Rename
One reading treats the change as real relief. A coder's work keeps running past hour five, on any verified Ultra account24.
A second reading treats the timing as the story. Daffan's class action grew to cover more plaintiffs on Sept. 8, 2026, weeks before Anthropic's rename49.
Both sides agree on the underlying numbers. They disagree about which number ought to decide the story28.
mike overell@mboverellI lead product for Claude subscriptions. Today we're renaming our Max plans, and I want to explain why.
When we launched our top plan in April 2025, it had a single limit: 5 hours. It gave you 20x Pro's limit, so we called it Max 20x. When we added weekly limits to Max 20x, we… https://t.co/3bgdqhJKKw
San Francisco holds both halves of this story. Anthropic's product team posted its fix from the company's own headquarters. Daffan's federal court sits in the same city, holding the lawsuit that made the fix look overdue28.
What to do
Track your weekly cap first, ahead of your session clock. Ultra and Max both reset on a seven-day cycle, and that number decides your week, regardless of today's change4.
Watch for Anthropic's verification email if you just signed up for Ultra. Overell's team said it arrives once your account clears, and the five-hour limit lifts the same day2.
Read the complaint's own numbers before you upgrade a plan on its name alone. Six to eight times Pro's usage is the figure a court will test, short of the twenty the old label advertised910.
By the numbers
- $200: Ultra's monthly price, unchanged from the old Max 20x plan1.
- Ten times: Ultra's new weekly cap, measured against the cheaper Pro plan4.
- Five hours: Anthropic's session window from April 2025, now gone for verified Ultra accounts2.
- About seven times: what Kahn's lawsuit says Max 20x actually delivered, against the twenty times its name advertised10.
- June 14, 2026: Kahn filed suit that day in the Northern District of California8.
- 21,956 likes: Anthropic's own announcement drew that many within hours1.
- 1,823 replies: the conversation count under that same post1.
- 4 points: Hacker News gave the same news just one comment6.
What to watch
Watch the motion practice in Kahn's case. A ruling on class certification would say whether Anthropic's numbers face a jury, past whatever a reply count on X can settle8.
Max's own five-hour window is worth a second look too. Overell's post named only the pricier plan, so coders on the cheaper tier are still watching their own clock24.
Sources
- Claude (@claudeai), "We're renaming our Max plans," X, Oct. 30, 2026, https://x.com/claudeai/status/2116220869479428500
- Mike Overell (@mboverell), "I lead product for Claude subscriptions. Today we're renaming our Max plans, and I want to explain why.," X, Oct. 30, 2026, https://x.com/mboverell/status/2116221457252659275
- Anthropic (@AnthropicAI), "We're rolling out new weekly rate limits for Claude Pro and Max in late August.," X, July 28, 2025, https://x.com/AnthropicAI/status/1949898502688903593
- Anthropic, "Max and Ultra plans," Claude, Oct. 30, 2026, https://claude.com/pricing/max
- Anthropic, "Use Claude Code with your Max plan," Claude Support, Oct. 30, 2026, https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11145838-using-claude-code-with-your-max-plan
- Hacker News, "Claude: renaming Max plans: Max 5x to Max, Max 20x to Ultra," Oct. 30, 2026, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50308221
- Wikimedia Foundation, "Pageviews for Anthropic, Oct. 29, 2026," Oct. 29, 2026, https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/metrics/pageviews/per-article/en.wikipedia/all-access/user/Anthropic/daily/20261029/20261029
- Jason Nelson, "Anthropic Faces Lawsuit Over Allegedly Misleading Claude AI Pricing," Decrypt, June 15, 2026, https://decrypt.co/371201
- Jean Leon, "Power Users Sue Anthropic for 'Deceptive' Marketing on $200 Claude Max Tier," Android Headlines, Sept. 10, 2026, https://www.androidheadlines.com/2026/09/anthropic-lawsuit-claude-max-usage-limits.html
- Richard L. Wells, "Claude Max Lawsuit Accuses Anthropic of Overselling 20x Usage as Credit Caps Begin," Tech Times, June 15, 2026, https://www.techtimes.com/articles/318442/20260615/claude-max-lawsuit-accuses-anthropic-overselling-20x-usage-credit-caps-begin.htm