Anthropic Unveils New Rate Limits to Regulate Claude Code Power Users
Anthropic has introduced new weekly usage limits for Claude, designed to minimize excessive usage by subscribers operating Claude Code, its AI coding tool, “continuously in the background, 24/7.” These limits also target a small group of users misusing Claude’s policy by sharing accounts and reselling access to Claude Code.
Starting August 28, these usage limits will be enforced for subscribers on Anthropic’s $20-per-month Pro plan, along with the $100 and $200-per-month Max plans, as per a statement from the company shared via email and posted on X.
Anthropic clarified that its existing usage limits, which reset every five hours, will not change. Moreover, the company is establishing two new weekly limits that reset every seven days; one will be an overall usage cap, and the other will concentrate on Anthropic’s latest AI model, Claude Opus 4. Max subscribers will have the option to purchase additional usage beyond the limits set by the rate cap at standard API rates.
This announcement comes after a previous, quieter implementation of rate limits for Claude Code. Anthropic acknowledged existing issues but provided minimal details. Despite its popularity among developers, the company is evidently facing challenges with broader service delivery. Anthropic’s status page notes that Claude Code has encountered partial or major outages at least seven times over the past month, likely due to intense usage by certain power users.
Anthropic has indicated that it is dealing with significant computational resource constraints, a common issue among AI model providers today. Many AI companies are rapidly working to establish new data centers to meet the high demands of serving and training their AI models.
Several AI coding tool providers are reexamining their pricing models. For example, Cursor’s parent company, Anysphere, recently adjusted its pricing structure for its $20-per-month Pro plan to curtail excessive use by power users. However, Anysphere later apologized for poor communication about these changes, leading to unexpected price increases for some users. Another coding tool provider, Replit, also made similar pricing changes in June.
Anthropic promptly responded to TechCrunch’s request for clarification regarding the specifics of the rate limits.
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The company indicates that these limits are expected to affect less than 5% of subscribers based on current usage trends. Most Pro users can expect between 40-80 hours of Sonnet 4 within their weekly limits. However, Anthropic cautions that actual usage may vary depending on codebase size and other factors.
In a recent email to Claude subscribers, Anthropic reiterated its commitment to “supporting long-running use cases through various options in the future.” Nevertheless, the company believes these rate limits will ensure reliable service in the short term.
