Anthropic renames Claude Max 20x to Ultra, drops 5-hour limit for verified users

On 2026-10-31, Anthropic announced a reshuffling of its Claude subscription tiers for individual consumers. The plan formerly called Max 20x is now Ultra, still priced at $200 per month, while Max 5x has been simplified to Max at $100 per month. Ultra subscribers get 10x the weekly usage of Pro, plus priority access to new models, features, and products. Both tiers remain monthly-only subscriptions.

On the same day, Anthropic said it would remove the 5-hour usage cap for verified Ultra accounts. The change applies to most existing subscribers immediately, starting 2026-10-31. Accounts must pass automated verification based on factors like account and payment history, and users need to take no action themselves. Verifying a phone number at checkout is a separate step and does not lift the cap. New accounts remain under a temporary usage cap until verification completes, at which point Anthropic will send an email notification.

Users can check verification status in Settings > Usage: if the Current session row is missing, the account has been verified.

The Pro tier, at $17 per month, and the Max tier at $100 per month still keep their 5-hour usage limits. Developers had previously complained that even the top-tier plan enforced a per-5-hour reset, which interrupted coding and debugging sessions when limits were hit mid-task. One X user joked that a certain model burns through the 5-hour window quickly, leaving the $200 plan as the only workaround, though the quote does not specify which model.