Claude extra usage: what it costs and when it kicks in
Usage credits, which Anthropic used to call extra usage, let a Pro or Max subscriber keep working once a session or weekly limit is used up. You turn them on and prepay in Settings › Usage; requests then switch to pay-as-you-go at standard API rates, up to the monthly spend limit you set.
They answer one situation: a job that cannot wait for the reset. The cost is the catch, since API rates on a long Claude Code session add up quickly. Knowing how close each window is to its end is what lets you decide before the credits start, rather than discover it on the bill.
Checked on , against Anthropic's help center, pricing page and Claude Code documentation, listed under Sources. Anthropic notes that prices and plans are subject to change: the pages linked below are the reference.
What extra usage is
- Who can use it: individuals on Pro, Max 5x and Max 20x.
- When it starts: once your five-hour session limit, your weekly limit, or on Max your Fable weekly limit is fully used, and only if usage credits are turned on.
- What it covers: Claude conversations and Claude Code alike; your combined use of both counts.
- What it does not change: your session still resets every five hours and your weekly limits once a week.
Usage credits are not the monthly API credits included with Max plans: those cannot be used in Claude, Claude Code or Claude Cowork. How the two windows work is set out in Claude usage limits explained.
What it costs
Usage credits are billed at standard API rates, charged separately from your subscription. The rates per million tokens for the current models:
| Model | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $10 | $50 |
| Opus 5.5 | $4 | $20 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $2 | $10 |
| Haiku 5.5 | $0.10 | $0.50 |
Source: claude.com/pricing (API tab) and Anthropic's help center (article 12429409), checked on . US dollars per million tokens; Haiku at these rates for prompts up to 100,000 tokens. Prompt caching and batch processing change the bill and are listed on the same page.
In most cases usage credits do not expire. In certain jurisdictions, such as Japan, credits bought from September 10, 2026 expire six months after purchase, with an email seven days before.
Turning it on or off
- Open Settings › Usage on claude.ai and find the Usage credits section.
- Click Enable and add a payment method if none is set.
- Set a monthly spend limit with Adjust limit, or choose Set to unlimited.
- Prepay with Add funds; auto-reload, if you turn it on, buys more when the balance falls below a threshold.
You can disable them at any time in the same place. If you subscribed through a mobile app,
usage credits can only be turned on in the web version. In Claude Code, /usage-credits
opens the same settings page for a Pro or Max subscriber.
Seeing it coming
- Claude warns you as you approach a session or weekly limit; Claude Code shows, for
example,
You've used 85% of your session limit · resets 3:45pm
. - The warning can still be on screen when your next request goes through on credits; it
then changes to
Now using credits
. - Settings › Usage separates your included usage from your credit spending, with this month's spend and your balance.
Each of these shows one account. The figures of every account are covered in the guide to check your Claude usage; Codex has its own credits and windows, and its own guide to check your Codex usage.
Quotum shows the windows each Claude account publishes in your Mac menu bar, with how long ago each was measured and, when Anthropic gives it, the time each resets, so you see a limit approaching before the credits take over. An account read only from the history Claude keeps on your Mac shows no reset time; once a window runs dry, it shows only a latest time, marked “by” or “at the latest”. How it works: the Claude usage tracker.
The trial is free, lasts fourteen days and covers the first two lines of the panel. Launch price: €4.99, then €9.99. Reading a provider's quota from a third-party app is not something the provider provides for: the pricing page explains the risk before any purchase.
Sources
Consulted on .
- Anthropic, Manage usage credits for paid Claude plans:
support.claude.com/en/articles/12429409 - Anthropic, Use Claude Code with your Pro or Max plan:
support.claude.com/en/articles/11145838 - Anthropic, How do usage and length limits work?:
support.claude.com/en/articles/11647753 - Claude, Pricing:
claude.com/pricing - Claude Code, Costs:
code.claude.com/docs/en/costs - Claude Code, Errors:
code.claude.com/docs/en/errors
FAQ
What is Claude extra usage?
The former name of usage credits: a way for Pro and Max subscribers to keep using Claude and Claude Code after reaching a plan limit, billed at standard API rates instead of being stopped.
How much do Claude usage credits cost?
They are billed at standard API rates, separately from your subscription. On October 9, 2026, that was $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens for Opus 5.5, and $2 and $10 for Sonnet 5.5.
How do I turn on extra usage in Claude?
In Settings › Usage on claude.ai, under Usage credits: click Enable, add a payment method, set a monthly spend limit, then prepay with Add funds.
Can I set a spending limit on Claude usage credits?
Yes. Adjust limit sets a monthly spend cap, and usage stops on credits once it is reached, or once the balance runs out with auto-reload off.
Do Claude usage credits expire?
In most cases they do not. In certain jurisdictions such as Japan, credits bought from September 10, 2026 expire six months after purchase.
Can the API credits included with Max pay for extra usage?
No. Anthropic says the monthly API credits included with Max plans do not apply to usage credits in Claude, Claude Code or Claude Cowork.