Anthropic Offers Double Claude Usage During Off-Peak Hours for Limited Time

Claude Code is Anthropic’s AI coding tool for developers, with weekly usage caps governing access under subscription plans including Pro and Team. Those limits shape how much sustained coding work heavy users can complete and influence the perceived value of paid tiers. The policy is also a test of Anthropic’s ability to balance the high computing costs of advanced models with service reliability and intensifying competition for developers.

Anthropic said a permanent 25% increase to Claude Code’s standard weekly limits will take effect on Sept. 14. The change nevertheless reduces capacity for users accustomed to a temporary 50% boost that is being withdrawn. Measured against that enhanced allowance, available usage falls from 150% of the former baseline to 125%, a decline of about 17%. The permanent baseline is higher, but the immediate experience for active users will be a smaller weekly allocation.

Anthropic’s Claude models underpin its consumer chatbot, the Claude Code developer tool and applications connected through the Claude API. A disruption spanning those products can affect more than individual conversations, potentially interrupting software development and automated business workflows that rely on Claude. The incident highlights the operational risks facing users that depend on a single artificial-intelligence provider or model family.

Anthropic reported elevated request error rates affecting multiple Claude models, alongside disruptions to claude.ai, Claude Code and the Claude API. The company said it had identified the cause and begun remediation, while affected users temporarily shifted work to other models. Anthropic had not disclosed the number of users affected, the precise start of the incident or a timetable for full service restoration.

Anthropic’s Claude Code is an AI coding tool for developers that can help interpret code, modify files and perform development tasks. As companies including OpenAI and Google compete for AI developers, usage allowances have become a key factor in product adoption and day-to-day workflow retention.

Anthropic said it would raise Claude Code’s weekly token limit by 50% for Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans across all platforms. The offer runs from the announcement date through July 13, 2026, a period of about two months, and is intended to reduce friction for high-frequency developers by giving them more capacity.

Anthropic’s Claude Pro and Max plans previously allowed third-party agent tools such as OpenClaw to use subscription allowances through OAuth tokens, enabling high-volume users to engage in “subscription arbitrage.” Anthropic said agent services consume substantial computing resources and were crowding out capacity for its official Claude and Claude Code products, prompting changes to its authorization and billing policies.

Anthropic said that from April 4, 2026, Pro and Max subscription allowances could no longer be used by third-party tools such as OpenClaw. Users must instead purchase prepaid extra-usage credits or obtain an official API key and pay based on usage. Anthropic later restored OpenClaw integration but shifted billing to “Agent SDK credits,” ending free use of subscription allowances.

Anthropic has introduced a new billing option called “Usage Bundles” and is offering free credits to encourage existing paying customers to adopt it. The offer covers Claude Pro, Max and Team subscribers. Credits can be used across platforms and for features including Claude Code, reflecting the company’s push to expand paid use cases for its generative AI tools.

Anthropic said eligible Claude Pro, Max and Team subscribers can receive a one-time credit worth $20–$200. Users must actively claim it by April 17 or lose their eligibility. Once claimed, the credit can be used across all Claude platforms and features, including the software-development tool Claude Code.

Anthropic's Claude is facing rapidly rising demand from generative AI and AI agent applications, with compute-intensive workloads such as extended reasoning and software development consuming particularly large amounts of capacity. To prevent congestion during peak hours, Anthropic is adjusting allowances for Claude Pro and free-tier users, affecting those who rely on Claude for complex tasks.

Anthropic's latest announcement said overall weekly limits for Claude Pro and the free tier would remain unchanged. During peak hours, however, compute-intensive tasks will consume allowances more quickly, meaning users may reach per-session limits sooner. Reports did not disclose an exact effective date, the scale of the adjustment or any additional charges. The changes primarily affect usage limits during peak periods.