Anthropic Enforces New Rate Limits on Claude to Curb Abuse and Power Users

Anthropic is introducing new weekly rate limits for its AI coding tool, Claude Code, to curb usage among power users who run the tool continuously in the background. The limits will apply to Pro, Max, and Max plan subscribers, with Max subscribers able to purchase additional usage at standard API rates. The move aims to stop users violating the usage policy and to limit computational resources.

Anthropic, a leading AI company, has announced the implementation of new weekly rate limits for its AI coding tool, Claude Code. The changes aim to address the issue of power users running the tool continuously in the background, consuming computational resources at an unsustainable rate. The new limits will apply to subscribers of the Pro, Max, and Max plan, with Max subscribers having the option to purchase additional usage at standard API rates.

The new rate limits, set to take effect on August 28, are expected to impact less than 5% of subscribers based on current usage patterns [1]. Most Pro users can anticipate 40-80 hours of Sonnet 4 usage within their weekly limits, according to Anthropic. However, usage may vary based on codebase size and other factors.

The company has cited the need to prevent policy violations such as account sharing and reselling access to Claude Code as a reason for the new limits. Additionally, Anthropic aims to maintain reliable service for all users by managing computational resources more effectively.

Anthropic has committed to supporting long-running use cases through other options in the future but has emphasized that the short-term solution of weekly rate limits is crucial for maintaining service reliability.

In a statement, Anthropic noted that the new limits will not affect most users and that the company is working to address any remaining issues related to reliability and performance. The company has also acknowledged that the changes come amidst a period of increased usage and outages for Claude Code, with the tool experiencing several outages in the past month.

References:
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1mbo1sb/updating_rate_limits_for_claude_subscription/
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/28/anthropic-unveils-new-rate-limits-to-curb-claude-code-power-users/