From mid-September to the end of October 2026, Anthropic continuously rolled out changes that benefit Claude users. Free users have additional slide making, document, and design tools. Payers get the 5-hour limit lifted, monthly API credits, and a new, more powerful, cheaper model.

200 USD package renamed to Ultra, removing 5-hour limit

On October 30, 2026, Anthropic changed the names of its two premium packages for individuals. Max 5x becomes Max, keeping the price 100 USD per month (about 2.6 million VND). Max 20x becomes Ultra, keeping the price 200 USD per month (about 5.3 million VND). The person registering will have their name automatically changed.

The most significant change is that verified Ultra accounts are no longer limited to 5-hour sessions, with only a weekly limit of 10 times the Pro plan. Weekly limit remains the same as Max 20x. This is most beneficial for people running Claude Code or long tasks, which are easily interrupted midway. The roll-out is rolled out in batches, starting with the majority of existing subscribers. New accounts remain temporarily restricted until verified and will receive an email when the restriction is lifted. Ultra is not an “unlimited” plan, Anthropic may still impose additional limits to manage load.

Max, Ultra and Team plans receive API credits each month

From October 7, 2026, the Max and Team packages have additional monthly credits for the Claude Platform, used to run private applications and agents. The bonus is 100 USD for the Max package (old name Max 5x), 200 USD for the Ultra package (old name Max 20x). Team package receives 20 USD for each Standard seat and 100 USD for each Premium seat, cumulative up to 500 USD.

To receive, users go to Settings > Billing (Max package) or Organization settings > Billing (Team package) and link a Claude Console organization. Each package can only be linked to one organization, users cannot change it later. Credits are for the Claude API, Managed Agents, Agent SDK, and playground, but not for Claude Code or additional uses in the Claude app. Free, Pro and Enterprise packages are not eligible.

Claude Duet, the assistant that automatically finds the user

On October 21, 2026, Anthropic opened testing Claude Duet, an application where Claude acts as a proactive assistant. Duet automatically reports what needs attention, performs assigned tasks, continues when the user leaves, and asks for permission before sending messages, making payments, signing documents, or deleting data. Duet does not charge additional fees during the trial period but is calculated into the limit of the current package. Currently, the application is only open via waiting list for Pro and Max users in the US, there is no confirmed information on when it will open for Vietnam.

New model is more powerful, cheaper

On September 22, 2026, Anthropic launched Claude Opus 5.5. According to the company, this model reaches the level of Claude Fable 5.1 in most jobs, operating costs are about 40% lower than Opus 5. Next, Claude Sonnet 5.5 was released on September 28, 2026 and Claude Haiku 5.5 on October 7, 2026. Haiku 5.5 is introduced by the company as the cheapest, fastest and most powerful small model ever released, suitable for high-volume tasks.

Free users also get gifts

On September 16, 2026, Anthropic launched Claude Design, Claude Slides and Claude Docs on all plans, including the free plan. Users can ask Claude to make designs, slide sets or documents right in the chat and then edit directly. The same day, the full capabilities of Claude Cowork are included in every conversation, rolling out to Pro and Max plans across web, desktop and mobile.