Claude Code Limits Sep 2026: 5-Hour, Weekly, Fable Cap

Last verified: November 13, 2026 (Pacific) against claude.com/pricing, Ultra plan docs, and platform.claude.com pricing.

Prior note: Sources: Anthropic Help Center — Claude Code May–August 2026 weekly limits promotion (updated; permanent +25% now official) and Fable-on-plan article. Exact token counts are not published — check Settings → Usage or /usage in the CLI.

Direct Answer (November 13, 2026): Claude Code shares one account usage pool across CLI, IDE, desktop, and web with two meters on most plans: a rolling 5-hour session window and a weekly usage limit. On current published plans, Pro ($20/mo or $17/mo annual) gives at least 5× Free usage per 5-hour session; Max ($100/mo) provides 5× Pro usage every 5 hours and weekly; and Ultra ($200/mo, formerly Max 20×) provides 10× Pro weekly usage with no 5-hour session limit for verified accounts. Anthropic’s temporary May–September 13, 2026 +50% promo ended; current flagship Fable 5.2 ($8/$40 API) runs on usage credits on Pro and uses up to 50% of weekly limits on Max, Ultra, and Team Premium.

TAKEAWAY PDF & MARKDOWN TWIN

Claude Code Limits — Takeaway PDF

Edition of November 13, 2026 — facts verified November 13, 2026. For AI: read the markdown edition.

Download Takeaway PDF For AI: read the markdown edition (.md)

The two clocks

People treat “I hit my limit” as one event. It is two.

5-hour session. Rolling window. Burns when the model is working, not when you are idle. Wait/usage windows depend on your active plan (Pro gives at least 5× Free usage; Max gives 5× Pro usage; Ultra removes the 5-hour limit for verified accounts). Neither the +50% weekly promo nor the permanent +25% weekly change raised or lowered this clock.
Weekly bucket. Fixed reset time on your account (Settings → Usage). This is the one that ends a Friday on Max after a Fable week. The May–September 2026 +50% promotion applied to Claude Code only — CLI, IDE, desktop, and web Code — not to regular Claude chat (Cowork has since been unified into core Claude). That temporary bump is over; check your live meter under Settings → Usage or /usage.

Eligible for the promo and the permanent +25%: Pro, Max, Team, and legacy seat-based Enterprise. Not eligible: Free and consumption-based Enterprise.

The September 13–14 change & November 2026 Baseline

Historical promotion timeline (support.claude.com/en/articles/15910845):

May 13 – Sep 13, 2026 11:59 PM PT: Temporary +50% weekly Claude Code promotion active for Pro, Max, Team, and seat-based Enterprise.
Post-promotion published tiers (November 2026): Pro ($20/mo or $17/mo annual) gives at least 5× Free 5-hour session capacity; Max ($100/mo) gives 5× Pro usage every 5 hours and weekly (+ $100/mo API credits); Ultra ($200/mo, formerly Max 20×) gives 10× Pro weekly usage with no 5-hour limit for verified accounts (+ $200/mo API credits); Team Premium ($100/$125 per seat) gives 5× Standard seat usage.

Exact prompt/token quotas remain dynamic by task length, model choice, and attachment size — read your live meter in Settings → Usage.

Who gets Fable 5.2 on the subscription

Official rule on claude.com/pricing: current flagship Claude Fable 5.2 ($8/$40 API, superseding Fable 5.1 and Fable 5 at $10/$50) follows the shared Fable subscription access rules:

Plan	Fable 5.2 on the subscription
Free ($0)	Not available
Pro ($20 / $17 annual)	Not in included allowance; bills via pay-as-you-go usage credits ($8/$40 MTok) from the first Fable token.
Team Standard ($20 / $25 seat)	Usage credits / pooled API credits ($8/$40 MTok).
Max ($100) / Ultra ($200, formerly Max 20×)	Included up to 50% of weekly limits (same pool as Sonnet and Opus).
Team Premium ($100 / $125 seat)	Included up to 50% of weekly limits (5× Standard seat usage).
Enterprise ($20/seat + API usage, 20-seat min)	Usage billed at standard API rates ($8/$40 for Fable 5.2).

Note: Earlier one-time July 2026 migration credits have closed; Fable 5.2 runs at $8 input / $40 output ($0.20 cache read) on API or usage credits.

Practical read: Pro accesses Fable via usage credits; Max ($100/mo) and Ultra ($200/mo) include Fable up to half of weekly limits before overflowing to usage credits or Opus 5.5 ($4/$20) / Sonnet 5.5 ($2/$10).

What still burns quota

Long agent loops and multi-agent fan-out (each worker keeps its own context).
Dumping a whole repo when one file would do.
MCP tool output that stays in context for the rest of the session.
Leaving ANTHROPIC_API_KEY set so the CLI bills API rates and ignores the subscription.

What to do now

If you are on Pro and need Fable all week, budget credits or move the hard jobs to Max. The subscription does not include Fable on Pro.
If you are on Max or Ultra, check Settings → Usage / /usage against your current Max (5× Pro) or Ultra (10× Pro weekly, no 5-hour limit for verified accounts) limits, not the retired May–September +50% promotion. Route high-volume loops to Haiku 5.5 or Sonnet 5.5 and save Fable 5.2 for demanding reasoning tasks.
Do not upgrade from Pro to Max only because the 5-hour window feels tight on Friday. Check which clock you hit. Session vs week is a different purchase.

TAKEAWAY PDF & MARKDOWN TWIN