On Monday, Anthropic revealed that it will implement new weekly rate limits for its paying subscribers. The AI company explained that this measure is aimed at addressing the abuse of its Claude Code feature, where some users have exploited the tool by running it continuously, leading to excessive use of computing resources. The firm anticipates that these new restrictions, set to take effect in late August, will affect fewer than 5 percent of its subscriber base.
Claude Code Abuse Leads to New Rate Limits for Subscribers
In a recent statement on X (formerly Twitter), Anthropic announced that starting August 28, it will enforce new weekly rate limits for all paid subscribers, including those on the Claude Pro and Claude Max plans. The company emphasized that the majority of its users, approximately 95 percent, will remain unaffected by these new limitations.
A report from TechCrunch detailed the two new rate limits being introduced. The first pertains to an overall usage cap that encompasses all features of the chatbot, while the second specifically targets the Claude Opus 4, the firm’s most advanced AI model. Anthropic indicated that Pro plan users will also have the option to purchase additional usage at standard API rates if they wish.
Anthropic cited the improper use of its coding feature as the primary rationale for this decision, noting instances where some individuals ran Claude Code incessantly, leading to high consumption of processing power. For instance, one user was found to have generated thousands of usage credits on a $200 plan. Additionally, the company discovered cases of users violating its policies by reselling and sharing accounts.
Following the implementation of these weekly limits, Pro users can expect to receive between 40 to 80 hours of Sonnet 4 usage with Claude Code. Users on the $100 Max subscription should anticipate receiving around 140-280 hours of Sonnet 4 and 15-35 hours of Opus 4 usage. Finally, Max subscribers on the $200 plan may gain access to 240-480 hours of Sonnet 4 and 24-40 hours of Opus 4, though these figures may vary depending on codebase size and other considerations.
