Amazon-backed Anthropic has introduced a new subscription plan named “Max” for its AI chatbot Claude, an access plan that directly challenges OpenAI’s $200 ChatGPT monthly plan. Anthropic, in their announcement post, says this access plan was “designed for those who collaborate with Claude extensively and need expanded access for their most important work.”
In an increasingly competitive AI subscription market, these Generative AI companies seek and continue to monetize their advanced language models while purposefully serving power users and professionals. According to Anthropic, the Max plan comes in two usage tiers:
- Expanded Usage: 5x more usage than Pro
- $100 per month
- Ideal for frequent users who work with Claude on a variety of tasks
- Maximum Flexibility: 20x more usage than Pro
- $200 per month
- Ideal for daily users who collaborate often with Claude for most tasks
In practical terms, this means Expanded Usage’s users ($100/month) get about 225 messages with Claude every 5 hours, while Maximum Flexibility’s users ($200/month) get about 900 messages with Claude every 5 hours. Or the users in the former could send about 50-200 prompts with Claude Code every 5 hours, and users in the latter could send about 200-800 prompts with Claude Code every 5 hours, according to one of Anthropic’s support articles.
In addition to the aforementioned tiers, Claude Max Plan’s subscribers will also get “priority access” to Claude’s newest models and features.
These subscription plans that come in higher usage limits allow power users to maintain momentum with little disruption while working on complex and time-consuming tasks, as “the Max plan offers flexible usage levels that grow with you,” Anthropic said.
However, these plans in comparison with ChatGPT’s subscription offerings still come short as they are limited, as opposed to GPT’s $200 monthly unlimited plan. When asked by TechCrunch if Anthropic would ever consider launching a more expensive monthly plan, Anthropic’s product lead Scott White replies, “We’ll always keep a number of exploratory options available to us. User feedback will continue to guide Anthropic’s product roadmap.”
So, for Anthropic, the Max Plan represents an important revenue opportunity, as analysis of OpenAI’s experience suggests substantial potential, where OpenAI reportedly told investors about the company’s annualized revenue that grew by $300 million within two months – a potential Anthropic would like to achieve as it could provide a significant financial boost to the company.
The ultimate success of the Max plan will depend on whether professionals and power users find sufficient value in the expanded limits, maximum flexibility, and priority access to justify the premium price point, as well as whether Anthropic can address concerns about the remaining limitations that have emerged from early user feedback.
