Claude Code pricing
There's no separate Claude Code subscription. It comes with every paid Claude plan, or you pay per token through the Claude Console.
The short answer
Claude Code is included with Claude Pro ($20 a month, or $17 billed yearly), Max 5x ($100), Max 20x ($200), Team, and Enterprise. It isn't included in Claude Free. On a plan, Claude Code shares the plan's 5-hour session limit and weekly limit with your Claude chats. You can also skip the plan and pay per token at standard API rates through the Claude Console.
Every way to pay for Claude Code
| Free | $0 · Claude Code not included |
|---|---|
| Pro | $20 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly ($200 up front) |
| Max 5x | $100 a month · 5x Pro's usage per session |
| Max 20x | $200 a month · 20x Pro's usage per session |
| Team | Standard seat $20 billed yearly ($25 monthly) · Premium seat $100 yearly ($125 monthly) · 2 to 150 people |
| Enterprise | $20 a seat a month billed yearly, 20-seat minimum, plus usage that scales with model and task |
| API (Claude Console) | No subscription; pay per token at standard API rates |
Prices in US dollars, from Anthropic's pricing page on October 20, 2026.
What the price buys: limits, not messages
Anthropic doesn't sell Claude Code by the message or the token on a subscription. Each plan buys a share of usage, capped two ways: a session limit that resets every five hours, and a weekly limit. Claude, Claude Desktop, and Claude Code all draw from the same limits, so heavy chat use leaves less for coding.
That makes the plans hard to compare on paper. Pro gives at least five times the Free plan's usage per session, Max 5x five times Pro's, and Max 20x twenty times Pro's, but none of them comes with a message count. The details are on the Pro, Max, and Claude Code limits pages.
Which plan to pick
- Start on Pro unless you already know you work in long agent sessions. It's the cheapest way to find out how fast you use a session.
- Move to Max 5x when you hit the 5-hour limit most working days. Upgrading applies right away and is prorated. Pro vs Max goes through the signs.
- Max 20x is for running Claude Code most of the day, with subagents or loops.
- Pay per token if you use Claude Code a few times a month, or need it billed to a company API account.
Subscription or API billing?
Claude Code can bill API credits at standard API rates instead of your plan. That's useful as overflow, but easy to do by accident: if an ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set in your environment, Claude Code uses it. To stay on your plan, run claude logout, then claude login and sign in with your Pro or Max account.
The monthly API credits that come with Max can't be used in Claude Code or the Claude apps. Usage credits can: turn them on in Settings › Usage to keep working past a limit at API rates.
Are you on the right plan?
The price you need depends on your pace, not on a spec sheet. Fuel Gauge is a free Mac menu bar app that reads your Claude Code limits after every reply and tells you whether you'll make it to the reset. A week of "runs out early" is a reason to move up; a week of "makes it, about 50% by then" means you could pay less.
Sources
Checked on October 20, 2026. Plans change from time to time, so the providers' own pages are the final word.
Questions
How much does Claude Code cost?
Claude Code comes with Claude Pro ($20 a month, or $17 billed yearly), Max ($100 or $200 a month), Team, and Enterprise. Or you can pay per token at API rates through the Claude Console.
Is Claude Code free?
No. Claude Free doesn't include Claude Code. Pro at $20 a month is the cheapest plan that does.
Can I use Claude Code with an API key instead of a plan?
Yes. Claude Code can bill API credits at standard API rates through the Claude Console. If ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set, Claude Code uses it instead of your subscription.
Do the Max plan's API credits work in Claude Code?
No. The monthly API credits included with Max can't be used in Claude Code or the Claude apps.
Keep reading
Know if you'll make it to reset.
Free. No account, no subscription.
brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/fuelgaugeOr ask your coding agent:
Install Fuel Gauge on my Mac: run `brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/fuelgauge`, open Fuel Gauge, then run `fuelgauge install-statusline` and `fuelgauge status`.
macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon and Intel