Claude Code pricing plans, limits and API costs
Claude Code has no subscription of its own: it comes with Claude Pro ($20 a month), Max 5x ($100), Max 20x ($200) and Team seats ($20 or $100), or you can pay per token with an API key. Checked 13 Oct 2026.
Claude Code plans
| Plan | Per month | What’s included | Published limits | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro$200 a year if paid annually | $20 | Claude Code in the terminal and in IDEs such as VS Code and JetBrains. Sonnet, Haiku and Opus models | At least 5× Free usage per 5-hour session, plus a weekly cap. Shared with Claude chat | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| Max 5x | $100 | Everything in Pro, plus Fable models (up to 50% of the weekly limit). From October 2026, $100 a month in Claude Platform API credits, which can’t be spent in Claude Code | 5× Pro per session, plus a weekly cap and a separate weekly Fable cap | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| Max 20x | $200 | Everything in Max 5x, with $200 a month in API credits from October 2026 (not for Claude Code) | 20× Pro per session, plus a weekly cap and a separate weekly Fable cap | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| TeamStandard seat, billed annually; Premium seats cost $100 | $20a seat | Claude Code for each member, admin controls, and up to $500 a month in API credits pooled across the team | Each seat has its own usage allowance; Standard and Premium seats have different allowances | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| API key (Claude Console) | Per token | Claude Code billed per token at API rates, with no session or weekly limits | Your API rate limits and spend limits only | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
US dollar list prices, before tax, checked 13 Oct 2026 on Anthropic’s own pages. Limits are quoted as published: Anthropic doesn’t state them in tokens. How we verify
When you reach the limit
When you reach a limit on Pro or Max you can wait for it to reset, upgrade, turn on usage credits (billed at API rates, with an optional monthly spend limit) or switch to an API key. Team and Enterprise admins set usage-credit limits for members.
Which plan suits whom
- Pro ($20)
- Trying Claude Code, or an hour or two of coding most days. Heavy agent use will hit the 5-hour limit.
- Max 5x ($100)
- Daily agent work on one codebase, and anyone who wants Fable.
- Max 20x ($200)
- Coding with agents most of the working day, or running several sessions at once.
- API key
- Automation, CI and scripts, occasional heavy bursts, or teams that want per-token billing and no weekly caps.
The same work through the API
| Model | Light5 tasks a day | Daily20 tasks a day | Heavy60 tasks a day | Per task |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 5.5$2.00 / $10.00 | $107 | $427 | $1,280 | $0.97 |
| Claude Opus 5.5$4.00 / $20.00 | $213 | $853 | $2,560 | $1.94 |
Monthly cost of a coding agent doing tasks of 40 steps each (an 18K-token system prompt, 90% of repeated input cached), on 22 working days a month, at list prices checked 13 Oct 2026. At these rates $100 buys about 103 tasks a month on Claude Sonnet 5.5, and $200 about 206. Change the workload in the agent cost calculator.
Good to know
- Usage limits are shared between Claude chat and Claude Code: everything you do in either counts against the same 5-hour and weekly limits.
- The monthly API credits that come with Max and Team plans are for the Claude Platform API. Anthropic says they can't be spent in Claude Code or the Claude apps, including on usage credits.
- If the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set, Claude Code bills that key per token instead of using your plan.
- Across enterprise deployments, Anthropic puts the average cost at about $13 per developer per active day and $150–250 per developer per month, with 90% of users under $30 per active day.
- Running /usage in Claude Code shows how much of your plan's limits you've used, and what is using them.
Other coding plans
| Tool | Cheapest paid plan | Top plan for one person |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Pro · $20 | Max 20x · $200 |
| OpenAI Codex | Go · $8 | Pro 500 · $500 |
| Cursor | Pro · $20 | Ultra · $200 |
| GitHub Copilot | Pro · $10 | Max · $100 |
All coding plans compared, including Devin, JetBrains AI and Google’s Antigravity. For chat plans, see API or subscription.
Questions
How much does Claude Code cost?
Claude Code has no subscription of its own: it comes with Claude Pro ($20 a month), Max 5x ($100), Max 20x ($200) and Team seats ($20 or $100), or you can pay per token with an API key.
Is there a free Claude Code plan?
No. The cheapest way in is Max 5x at $100 a month, or an API key billed per token.
What happens when I reach the Claude Code limit?
When you reach a limit on Pro or Max you can wait for it to reset, upgrade, turn on usage credits (billed at API rates, with an optional monthly spend limit) or switch to an API key. Team and Enterprise admins set usage-credit limits for members.
Is Claude Code cheaper than paying for the API?
It depends on how much you use it. At API rates, $100 (the Max 5x price) pays for about 103 coding-agent tasks a month on Claude Sonnet 5.5, about 5 a working day, using the workload in the table above. The plan works out cheaper if its limits let you do more than that. Claude Code doesn't publish its limits in tokens, so the only sure test is your own usage.
When were these prices checked?
On 13 Oct 2026, on Anthropic's own pricing and help pages, linked from each plan above. Prices are in US dollars and exclude tax.
Sources: Claude pricing, What is the Max plan?, Use Claude Code with your Pro or Max plan, Team plan billing, Claude Code: manage costs. Checked 13 Oct 2026. API prices: Anthropic API pricing.