What is the Claude Code usage limit?

On a paid Claude plan there is a session limit that resets every five hours and weekly limits that reset once a week. They are shared across claude.ai, Claude Code and Claude Desktop, and their size depends on your plan.

How do I check my Claude Code usage limit?

Run /usage in Claude Code to see your plan usage limits. On Pro and Max plans Claude Code also reports the five-hour and weekly figures to a status line, which tools such as the free Usage Meter show in the VS Code status bar.

Is there a message count for the limit?

Anthropic does not publish fixed message counts. How fast you use the limit depends on conversation length, features, model and effort level.

Claude Code

Claude Code usage limit: what it is and how to check it

By Eren Çolak, who makes Paneherd · Updated 24 October 2026

On a paid Claude plan, Claude Code runs against a session limit that resets every five hours and weekly limits that reset once a week. They are shared with claude.ai and Claude Desktop, so work in any of them draws on the same allowance. Run /usage in Claude Code to see where you stand. This applies to subscription plans (Pro, Max); with an API key you pay per token instead (see the difference).

What the limits are

Anthropic's usage limits article (checked 24 October 2026) describes the session limit and the weekly limits, and says plans differ in allowance. It gives no fixed message counts: how quickly you use the allowance depends on the length and complexity of your conversations, the features you use, the model and the effort level. Long conversations, tools and connectors, larger models and higher effort all use more.

How to see what is left

/usage in Claude Code. Shows session cost, your plan usage limits and, on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, a breakdown of what counts against them.
A status line. On Pro and Max plans Claude Code reports the five-hour and weekly percentages, with their reset times, to custom status lines, after the first reply of a session.
The status bar in VS Code. The free Usage Meter uses that report to keep both figures in the status bar and warns before you reach the limit. Paneherd shows them at the top of its sidebar next to your sessions.

Four Claude Code sessions in a grid in VS Code, with the Paneherd sidebar showing the usage limits at the top.

What happens when you hit it

Claude Code stops answering on that plan until the window resets; the message says when. Your options are to wait, to move work to another tool that bills a different plan, or to change how you spend the allowance. When the limit resets explains how to find the exact time.

Making it last

Start a new session for a new task rather than continuing a long one.
Match the model and effort to the task.
Remember parallel sessions share one allowance: how parallel sessions use the limits.
Find what is using it: why Claude Code usage runs out so fast.

Frequently asked questions

Is the usage limit the same as a rate limit?

No. The usage limit is the plan allowance described here. A rate limit is a cap on requests, mostly met through the API. See Claude Code rate limit.

Do several sessions get several limits?

No. Every session draws on the same allowance, so more sessions spend it faster.

Do Codex and Claude Code share a limit?

No. Codex has its own, tied to your ChatGPT account: Codex CLI usage limit.

Install the free Usage Meter