Claude Code is free to install and comes with Anthropic's paid Claude plans, from US$20 a month. It can also be paid for per use at API rates. The free Claude plan doesn't include it. Prices below are from claude.com/pricing, in US dollars, checked on 4 November 2026. They change, so that page is the one to trust.
Claude Code on each plan
| Plan | Price | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | No Claude Code |
| Pro | $20 a month billed monthly, or $17 a month billed annually ($200 up front) | More usage than Free |
| Max | $100 a month | 5x Pro usage |
| Ultra | $200 a month | 10x Pro usage each week, no five-hour limit |
| Team, standard seat | $25 per seat a month billed monthly, or $20 billed annually | More usage than Pro |
| Team, premium seat | $125 per seat a month billed monthly, or $100 billed annually | 5x a standard seat |
Enterprise plans include Claude Code as well, and their pricing is on the same Anthropic page. The plan Anthropic used to call Max 20x is now Ultra.
Paying at API rates
An Anthropic Console account pays for Claude Code per use, at standard API rates, with the bill scaling with how much the model reads and writes. On a subscription, usage credits beyond the plan's limits are also billed at API rates.
How the usage limits work
- Shared limits. The limits are shared across Claude and Claude Code on the same account, so chat and coding draw from the same allowance.
- Five-hour sessions. Pro and Max plans have a five-hour session limit as well as a weekly limit.
- Ultra. Verified Ultra accounts don't have the five-hour session limit.
- Weekly limits apply across all models.
Anthropic doesn't publish exact message counts for any plan.
Checking your usage
Inside a session, /usage shows the session cost, plan usage limits and activity. /cost and /stats are aliases for it. Other commands are on the terminal shortcuts page.
How I weigh it
I weigh the plan against my own hourly rate. If a subscription covers work that used to take a morning a week, the maths does itself. Where the heavier model is doing the thinking, the cost difference is small next to the time spent fixing work from a model that wasn't up to the job. More on the models is in the Claude Code guide.
Seeing what it does for your business first.
The half-day Claude Code course builds an agent operating system for your business on your own machine. $2,000 AUD a seat, two seats, live on Zoom.
See the Claude Code course →Questions about Claude Code pricing
How much does Claude Code cost?
Claude Code is included with Anthropic's paid plans. Pro is US$20 a month billed monthly, Max is US$100 a month and Ultra is US$200 a month. It can also be paid for per use at API rates through an Anthropic Console account.
Is Claude Code included in the free Claude plan?
No. Anthropic's setup docs say the free Claude plan doesn't include Claude Code access.
What are the Claude Code usage limits?
Pro and Max plans have a five-hour session limit and a weekly limit, and the limits are shared across Claude and Claude Code. Verified Ultra accounts have no five-hour session limit. Anthropic doesn't publish exact message counts.
How do I check my Claude Code usage?
Run /usage inside Claude Code. It shows session cost, plan usage limits and activity. /cost and /stats are aliases for the same command.