If you paid $100 or $200 a month for a Claude Max 5x or Max 20x plan since April 2025, this newly filed lawsuit claims you got less usage than advertised — though there is nothing to claim yet.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This article describes a class action complaint. The statements below are unproven allegations. Anthropic has not been found liable, there is no certified class, and there is nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
A proposed class action accuses Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI assistant and the Claude Code coding tool, of misleadingly marketing its Claude Max subscription plans. The complaint, Kahn v. Anthropic, PBC, No. 3:26-cv-05763, was filed June 14, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco Division), where Anthropic is headquartered.According to the complaint, Anthropic's sign-up and upgrade pages tell consumers to "Choose 5x or 20x more usage than Pro" — Pro being the entry-level individual plan at $17–$20 per month, with Max 5x priced at $100 per month and Max 20x at $200 per month. The plaintiff, a Washington, D.C. subscriber who upgraded from Pro to Max 5x and then to Max 20x, alleges the plans actually deliver only about three-and-a-half times (Max 5x) and six to eight times (Max 20x) the usage of Pro. Anthropic has not yet responded to the complaint in court, and none of the allegations has been proven.
The Usage-Multiplier Allegations
The core of the case is a math argument built on Anthropic's own words. The complaint says that in late July 2025, when Anthropic introduced weekly usage limits, it emailed each subscriber tier separately: Pro users were told to expect 40–80 hours of Sonnet 4 per week, Max 5x users 140–280 hours of Sonnet 4 and 15–35 hours of Opus 4, and Max 20x users 240–480 hours of Sonnet 4 and 24–40 hours of Opus 4.Comparing those ranges, the complaint alleges that Max 5x delivers roughly 3.5 times Pro's Sonnet hours — not five — and that Max 20x delivers only about six times Pro's Sonnet hours, not twenty. It also alleges Max 20x provides just 1.1 to 1.6 times the Opus hours of Max 5x, despite costing twice as much, which the plaintiff says contradicts the "Save 50%" label Anthropic displays next to the Max 20x option. Because each subscriber received only the email for their own tier, the complaint alleges, individual users could not compare the numbers across plans.
The lawsuit further alleges that Anthropic's website does not clearly explain how usage is measured — describing the help-center pages as a "black box" that quantifies limits only by reference to the Pro plan — and quotes subscribers who complained publicly that upgrading from Max 5x to Max 20x did not come close to quadrupling their weekly allowance. These are the plaintiff's characterizations and unproven allegations; the figures come from the complaint, not from any court finding.
Who Would Be Covered?
The complaint proposes one nationwide class:- All natural persons in the United States who acquired a subscription to a Max 5x or Max 20x plan by purchasing the plan — either through an initial purchase or an upgrade of an existing plan — on Claude.com or through the Claude desktop application, at any point from April 9, 2025 to the present.
No class has been certified, so this definition could change as the case proceeds. The complaint estimates class members number in the thousands, with roughly 18% in California, and argues California law applies to the whole class because Anthropic's Consumer Terms of Service select California law and San Francisco courts.
What the Lawsuit Claims and Seeks
The complaint brings claims under California's Consumers Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law, and Unfair Competition Law, along with common-law claims for negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract. It seeks actual damages, restitution and disgorgement, injunctive and declaratory relief, interest, and attorneys' fees. On the CLRA count, the plaintiff seeks only injunctive relief for now, with plans to amend the complaint to add CLRA damages after serving the statutorily required 30-day notice.Because the case is at the complaint stage, there is no money available now. If the case settles or a class is certified, eligibility and any benefits would be defined later — and we will update this page if that happens.
Read the Complaint
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Anthropic Claude Max class action allege?
The complaint alleges Anthropic advertised its Claude Max 5x and Max 20x subscription plans as providing five and twenty times more usage than the Pro plan, while actually delivering roughly 3.5x and 6–8x the usage of Pro, based on hour ranges Anthropic itself described in July 2025 emails to subscribers. It also challenges a "Save 50%" claim shown for the Max 20x plan. These are unproven allegations; Anthropic has not been found liable.
Who would the proposed class cover?
The complaint proposes a class of all natural persons in the United States who purchased or upgraded to a Claude Max 5x or Max 20x plan on Claude.com or through the Claude desktop application at any point from April 9, 2025 to the present. No class has been certified, so this definition could change.
Is there a settlement or money to claim?
No. This is a newly filed complaint. There is no settlement, no certified class, and nothing to claim at this time. The lawsuit seeks damages, restitution, and an injunction, but a court has not ruled on any of the claims.
What legal claims does the lawsuit bring?
The complaint brings claims under California's Consumers Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law, and Unfair Competition Law, plus common-law claims for negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where Anthropic is headquartered.
Sources
- Kahn v. Anthropic, PBC, No. 3:26-cv-05763 (N.D. Cal., filed June 14, 2026) — Class Action Complaint, embedded above.
Free settlement alerts
Get notified when new class actions open to claims
Join thousands of readers who get the latest class action settlements you may qualify for — delivered straight to your inbox.
