Anthropic Sued Over Claude Max '5x' and '20x' Usage Claims

"The actual usage provided by the Max 5x and Max 20x plans is far below the advertised amount of usage," the complaint reads. Karl Kahn, a Washington, D.C. resident, filed the proposed class action on June 14, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; his amended complaint went in on July 20. The Verge has been tracking the case as one of the first pricing-transparency fights against a major AI subscription.

Anthropic sells Claude Pro at $20 a month, Max 5x at $100, and Max 20x at $200. The names imply five and twenty times the usage of Pro. Kahn's math says the real delivery is closer to "three-and-a-half times (Max 5x) and six to eight times (Max 20x)" the usage of Pro.

Anthropic's own numbers do most of the plaintiff's work. In late July 2025, when it introduced weekly usage limits, the company emailed each tier separately: Pro users were told to expect 40 to 80 hours of Sonnet 4 per week, Max 5x users 140 to 280 hours of Sonnet 4 and 15 to 35 hours of Opus 4, and Max 20x users 240 to 480 hours of Sonnet 4 and 24 to 40 hours of Opus 4. On those figures, Max 20x runs about 1.7 times the weekly Sonnet time of Max 5x and 1.1 to 1.6 times the Opus time, despite costing twice as much and carrying a "Save 50%" badge at checkout.

The complaint brings claims under California's Consumers Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law, plus common-law negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract, on behalf of anyone who subscribed to either Max tier since April 9, 2025. Amount in controversy exceeds $5 million.

Anthropic filed a motion to dismiss on August 19, 2026. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse has set the hearing for November 6, 2026. "Anthropic did not respond to The Verge's request for comment." The filing lands in a heavy week for the company across our 332 Anthropic stories from the last 90 days, alongside its exit from the ITI trade group over chip-export lobbying.