Claude Code usage limit reached: what it means, what to do

When Claude Code says you have hit your usage limit, you have used up your plan's 5-hour session limit or its weekly limit, which Claude Code shares with Claude on the web and desktop. To keep working, wait for the reset, add usage credits, move to a higher plan, or switch Claude Code to an API key.

Why does Claude Code say you hit your limit?#

On Pro, Max and Ultra, Claude Code and Claude share one usage pool, so what you use in claude.ai or the desktop app comes out of what Claude Code has left. The message tells you which limit you reached, and that decides what helps:

Each message shows when the limit resets. A context or auto-compact warning is different: the conversation is getting long, and /compact or /clear deals with it.

How does the 5-hour limit work?#

On Pro and Max, the 5-hour limit, which Anthropic calls the session limit, starts with your first message and resets in full five hours later. Claude Code uses it faster than chat, for reasons Anthropic lists on its costs page:

• Every request resends the whole conversation, and each tool result, such as a file read, adds another request.
• After a break, the cached part of the conversation can expire, so the next request costs more.
• Subagents, workflows and scheduled tasks send their own requests, sometimes in the background.
• /compact is itself a large request, while /clear costs nothing.

On Ultra, verified accounts have no 5-hour limit, only the weekly one; an account not yet verified has a temporary limit.

How does the weekly limit work?#

The weekly limit covers all models together and resets at a fixed time each week, set per account. Steady work across many sessions can reach it without ever using up a 5-hour window, and once it runs out, a new 5-hour window doesn't bring access back. On Max and Ultra, Anthropic also sets a separate weekly limit for Fable.

How do Pro, Max and Ultra differ?#

All three include Claude Code; they differ in how much usage you get. Max gives five times Pro's usage every five hours and every week. Ultra gives ten times Pro's usage every week, with no 5-hour limit on verified accounts. Ultra is the new name of Anthropic's Max 20x plan, and its subscribers move over automatically at the same price. These are the official prices, each row with its source and check date:

To choose between them, read Claude Pro vs Max.

How do you check your usage?#

Run /usage in Claude Code, or /cost or /stats. On a subscription it shows your plan's usage bars and what used them, such as skills, subagents, plugins and MCP servers. Press d or w to switch between the last 24 hours and the last 7 days.

The breakdown is approximate and covers only the sessions on that computer. For usage across devices and claude.ai, open Settings > Usage on claude.ai.

What can you do when you hit the limit?#

Run /rate-limit-options to see your choices: wait and continue automatically, add usage credits, or move to a higher plan with /upgrade. You can also switch Claude Code to an API key.

Wait and continue automatically#

Since version 2.1.234, Claude Code waits in the open session and continues the task once the limit resets. This is on by default in interactive sessions signed in with a claude.ai subscription, and the session shows lines such as:

Usage limit reached · limit resets 3:45pm
Continuing automatically at 3:45pm · Esc to cancel

Claude Code picks the task up where it stopped, without resending your last message, and still asks for permissions as usual. If it hits the limit again, it re-arms the wait at most twice in a row, and it doesn't start a wait when the reset is more than 24 hours away, as a weekly reset can be. Press Esc to cancel, or turn it off with "Continue automatically at usage limit" in /config or the autoContinueAtUsageLimit setting.

Add usage credits#

Usage credits let you keep working past a limit at standard API rates. /usage-credits opens Settings > Usage on claude.ai, where you turn credits on or off and see your credit balance, this month's spend and an adjustable monthly spend limit. It needs a claude.ai subscription sign-in, not an API key.

Switch to an API key#

With an API key, Claude Code is billed per token and your plan's usage limits don't apply. ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY once you approve it when Claude Code asks, takes precedence over your claude.ai sign-in, and /status shows which one is active. To fall back to your subscription, run unset ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

How do you use Claude Code with a 5abeer API key?#

Compatible with the Anthropic Messages API. Claude Code works with a 5abeer key as it ships: create a key as in Keys and authentication, then set the base URL and the key in Claude Code's settings:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.5abeer.ai",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "YOUR_5ABEER_API_KEY",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5.5"
  }
}

Every request is deducted from your balance by model and token count. No 5-hour or weekly limit applies to the key, only your balance and any spend limit you set on it. Control every key: a spend limit, an expiry date and an IP allow-list.

To go back to your subscription, remove those settings, open a new session and check /status. To keep both, give each one its own configuration folder with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR; each folder keeps its own settings, sessions and sign-in or key. The full setup is in Claude Code setup, and prices are on Claude API.

What about a 5abeer plan?#

Subscribe to the official apps for less than their official price. Bundle plans and the Claude plan include Claude Code, and the 5abeer AI app turns it on for your plan in one click, with no key and no files to edit. Then restart any open Claude Code session, as in What each plan runs.

A 5abeer plan has its own 5-hour and weekly limits, separate from Anthropic's, shown on the "Your subscription" page and in 5abeer AI. Our plan names, Pro, Max and Ultra, are 5abeer's own: 5abeer's Max gives five times the limits of 5abeer's Pro, and 5abeer's Ultra twenty times. When a limit runs out, the app gets the USAGE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED error, and you can:

• wait for the reset;
• buy a weekly limit reset, which starts both limits over without adding what was left or extending your subscription;
• keep going on your balance, which stays off until you turn it on under "Advanced settings";
• move to a higher plan right away, paying only the difference.

Details are in Usage limits, the app page is Claude Code with 5abeer, and our prices are on the pricing page:

How do you make your limit last longer?#

These habits come from Anthropic's advice on reducing usage:

• Clear between tasks. Name the session with /rename before /clear, so /resume can bring it back. When you compact, say what to keep, such as /compact Focus on the API changes.
• Match the model and effort to the task. Sonnet handles most coding tasks; keep Opus for complex design and multi-step reasoning, and lower /effort for simple work.
• Trim the context. /context shows what fills it, /mcp turns off unused servers, and Anthropic suggests keeping CLAUDE.md under 200 lines, with occasional instructions in skills.

More ways to spend less are in The cheapest way to run Claude Code.

Frequently asked questions#

When does the Claude Code limit reset?#

The 5-hour limit resets in full five hours after the session's first message, and the weekly limit at a fixed time each week, set per account. The limit message shows the exact time.

Do Claude and Claude Code share a limit?#

Yes. On Pro, Max and Ultra, Claude on the web, Claude Desktop and Claude Code draw on one usage pool, so heavy use in one leaves less for the others.

Does switching models help?#

Only after a model family's limit, such as your Opus limit: then /model lets you continue with another family. The session and weekly limits cover all models.

Can Claude Code continue by itself after the reset?#

Yes, from version 2.1.234 on a claude.ai subscription, if you keep the session open and the reset is no more than 24 hours away. Esc cancels the wait.

Does an API key have usage limits?#

Not your plan's 5-hour and weekly limits. Each request is billed instead: by token on Anthropic's API, or from your balance on 5abeer, within any spend limit you set on the key.

Is 5abeer part of Anthropic?#

No. 5abeer is an independent service, not affiliated with OpenAI, Anthropic or Google.

Sources#

Checked on 2026-11-01:

• Anthropic Help Center: Use Claude Code with your Pro, Max, or Ultra plan
• Anthropic Help Center: How do usage and length limits work?
• Anthropic Help Center: Manage usage credits for paid Claude plans
• Anthropic Help Center: What is the Max plan?
• Anthropic Help Center: What is the Ultra plan?
• Claude Code docs: Manage costs effectively
• Claude Code docs: Interactive mode
• Claude Code docs: Authentication
• Claude Code docs: Commands
• Anthropic: Claude pricing

Each row in the official price table shows its own source and the date we checked it.