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Claude usage credits: what they cost, how to check them and when they expire
Claude usage credits keep Pro, Max and Ultra working after a 5-hour or weekly limit runs out, and they are billed at standard API rates: $4 per million input tokens and $20 output on Opus 5.5, $2 and $10 on Sonnet 5.5. Bundles take 10 to 30% off. You see your balance and this month's spend in Settings > Usage on claude.ai, or with /usage in Claude Code. Credits do not reset: they stay until you spend them, and from 7 December 2026 each purchase expires 12 months after you buy it. Only the monthly spend count restarts each month.
Usage credits are not the monthly API credits that come with Max and Ultra. Those pay for the Claude API, not for Claude or Claude Code.
Checked 11 November 2026 against Anthropic's usage credits article, usage bundles and Claude Code's cost docs · By Soren Starck
| Usage credits | Monthly API credits | |
|---|---|---|
| What it pays for | Claude chats, Claude Code and Cowork after a plan limit is used up | The Claude API, Batches, Managed Agents and the Agent SDK in a linked Console organization |
| Who gets it | Pro, Max and Ultra (Team and Enterprise have their own version) | Max $100, Ultra $200, Team $20 or $100 a seat (pooled, up to $500) |
| Price | Standard API rates, or 10 to 30% less in bundles | Included in the plan |
| Does it reset? | No: the balance stays until spent or expired; only the monthly spend count restarts | Yes, each billing cycle, with no rollover |
| Expiry | 12 months after purchase, for credits bought from 7 December 2026 | End of the billing cycle |
| Where to see it | Settings > Usage on claude.ai; /usage in Claude Code | Billing page of the Claude Console |
How much do Claude usage credits cost?
Anthropic bills usage credits at the standard API rates, per million tokens: $2 input and $10 output on Sonnet 5.5, $4 and $20 on Opus 5.5, $8 and $40 on Fable 5.2, and $0.10 and $0.50 on Haiku 5.5 for prompts up to 100,000 tokens. In Claude Code that comes to about $0.27 for Anthropic's sample session on Sonnet 5.5, $0.55 on Opus 5.5 and $0.91 on Fable 5.2, so $50 of credits covers roughly 90 such sessions on Opus. The rates of every model, cache writes included, are in Claude pay-as-you-go pricing.
Paying in advance costs less. Usage bundles on Pro, Max, Ultra and Team come at a discount:
| Bundle | You pay | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| $50 of credits | $45 | 10% |
| $250 of credits | $200 | 20% |
| $1,000 of credits | $700 | 30% |
Pro, Max and Ultra subscribers can buy up to $2,000 of bundles a month, Team owners up to $3,000; anything past that is billed at the standard rate. Usage credits have to be on before you can buy a bundle, and the balance works in Claude, Claude Code, Cowork and third-party tools that sign in with your Claude account.
How do I check my Claude usage credits?
On claude.ai, open Settings > Usage. It shows your consumption in real time, your usage credit spend this month, your past use and the expiry date of each purchase. That is also where you turn credits on, buy more with “Buy usage credits”, set a monthly spend limit with “Adjust limit” and switch auto-reload on or off. You can buy credits and set the limit in the Claude iPhone and Android apps where in-app purchases are offered; auto-reload is web only (Anthropic).
In Claude Code, run /usage. While usage credits are on, it adds a usage-credits row under your plan bars. On Pro, Max and Ultra the row shows this month's spend against your monthly spend limit, or “Unlimited” with no spend figure when you have not set one; with credits off there is no row at all (Claude Code docs). When a request moves onto credits, the limit notice in Claude changes to “Now using credits”: you have not been cut off. Other places to read your Claude Code usage are in how to check Claude Code usage.
When do Claude credits reset?
They don't. A usage credit balance is money you prepaid, and it stays until you spend it or it expires. Three other things do restart, and they are often what people mean:
- Your monthly spend limit counts from zero again each month, so a capped account can spend credits again.
- Your plan's 5-hour session limit and weekly limit reset on their usual schedule, credits or not; usage credits do not change when they reset. How each window works is in how long a Claude Code rate limit lasts.
- The monthly API credits of Max, Ultra and Team arrive with each billing cycle, and what is left expires at its end.
Do Claude usage credits expire?
Yes, for anything bought from 7 December 2026: one-time purchases, bundles and auto-reload top-ups generally expire 12 months after the purchase date, and unused credits are then removed. Credits bought before 7 December 2026 do not expire. Anthropic says the dates can differ by country, shows each one on the Usage page, and emails you before a purchase expires. A large prepaid balance you do not use within the year is lost.
Can you get a refund on usage credits?
As a rule, no. Usage credit purchases are non-refundable, including when you cancel your subscription or delete your account. Unused credits bought directly from Anthropic come back when you upgrade to Team in place, move your personal account into an organization, close it with the Start fresh option or at a domain claim deadline. Credits already spent are never refunded.
Usage credits or Max's monthly API credits?
Max includes $100 a month of Claude Platform credits, Ultra $200 and Team $20 a standard seat or $100 a premium seat, pooled up to $500. You claim them by linking one Claude Console organization, and they pay for the Claude API, Batches, Managed Agents and the Agent SDK. They do not pay for interactive Claude Code in the terminal, IDE, desktop or web, nor for usage credits in Claude, Claude Code or Cowork, and they expire at the end of each billing cycle. Pro and Enterprise get none. Whether Max or Ultra is worth it against Pro plus credits is in Claude Pro vs Max.
Spending fewer credits without noticing
Credits start the moment a limit is used up, and Claude marks the switch only with its “Now using credits” notice. Anthropic's own tips are to start with a conservative monthly spend limit, use your plan's included usage first and plan heavy work around your 5-hour windows. SessionWatcher keeps the 5-hour session and the weekly limit in the Mac menu bar with their reset times, so you see a limit running out before credits take over and can wait for the reset instead. With usage credits on, it stops counting down to a lockout at 100%, because you are not locked out. Where Claude's usage data carries a dollar spend cap, as on Enterprise seats capped in dollars, a Spend Limit card shows the dollars spent against it. Claude is in every SessionWatcher plan, on Mac and Windows.
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Frequently asked questions
How much do Claude usage credits cost?
Usage credits are billed at standard API rates per million tokens: $2 input and $10 output on Sonnet 5.5, $4 and $20 on Opus 5.5, $8 and $40 on Fable 5.2. Bundles cut that by 10% ($50 for $45), 20% ($250 for $200) or 30% ($1,000 for $700), up to $2,000 of bundles a month on Pro, Max and Ultra.
How do I check my Claude usage credits?
On claude.ai, open Settings > Usage: it shows your credit balance, this month's spend, past use and the expiry date of each purchase. In Claude Code, /usage shows a usage-credits row while credits are on: this month's spend against your monthly spend limit, or Unlimited when you have not set one.
When do Claude credits reset?
Usage credits do not reset: what you buy stays in your balance until you spend it or it expires. What restarts each month is the spend counted against your monthly spend limit. Your plan's 5-hour and weekly limits reset on their usual schedule, and the monthly API credits of Max, Ultra and Team arrive each billing cycle without rollover.
Do Claude usage credits expire?
Credits bought on or after 7 December 2026 generally expire 12 months after the purchase date, including bundles and auto-reload purchases. Credits bought before 7 December 2026 do not expire. The dates can differ by country; the Usage page lists them and Anthropic emails you before a purchase expires.
Can I get a refund on Claude usage credits?
No, in general. Usage credit purchases are non-refundable, even if you cancel your subscription or delete your account. Unused credits bought directly from Anthropic are refunded when you upgrade to Team in place, move your account into an organization, close it with Start fresh or at a domain claim deadline, or where local law requires it.
Do Max monthly API credits pay for usage credits?
No. The $100 a month on Max and $200 on Ultra are Claude Platform credits for the API in a linked Console organization. Anthropic says they do not apply to usage credits in Claude, Claude Code or Cowork, and they expire at the end of each billing cycle.
Sources
All read on 11 November 2026:
- Manage usage credits for paid Claude plans: how credits start, the spend limit, auto-reload, mobile purchases, expiry and refunds.
- Buy usage bundles: bundle sizes, discounts and the monthly purchase caps.
- Monthly API credits for Max, Ultra, and Team plans: amounts, what they cover, refresh and expiry.
- Claude Code costs: the usage-credits row in
/usage. - Anthropic API pricing: the per-token rates usage credits are billed at.