rate-limiting

Anthropic has identified two primary causes for Claude Code users hitting usage limits faster than expected: stricter rate limiting during peak hours and sessions with context windows exceeding 1 million tokens. The company also recommends switching to Sonnet 4.6 instead of Opus, which consumes limits roughly twice as fast.

Anthropic on Wednesday adjusted Claude's session limits for Free, Pro, and Max subscribers during peak demand hours (05:00-11:00 PT / 13:00-19:00 GMT). Users can now consume five hours of allowance in under five hours during these periods, while off-peak usage maintains standard pacing. Approximately 7% of Pro tier users will hit limits they previously wouldn't have encountered.