Hit your Claude Code limit? 4 ways to keep working.

First: how Claude plan limits work

If you use Claude Code with a Claude Pro or Max plan, you have two limits at once.

• Session limit

  Resets every five hours.

• Weekly limit

  Resets on a fixed schedule that Anthropic sets for your account.

• One shared pool

  Chatting in the Claude app and coding in Claude Code count against the same limits.

How far a session goes depends on the model, the size of your project and how long the conversation has run. Bigger models such as Opus use more of it than Sonnet or Haiku.

1Wait for the reset

The simplest option. The limit message says when your usage comes back. If it's the five-hour session limit, that's a coffee break or an evening. If it's the weekly limit, it can be days.

• Costs

  Nothing extra.

• Conversation

  Stays exactly where it was. Type "continue" when the time comes.

• Catch

  You have to be there when it resets, or remember to come back.

2Switch to another account

If you have a second Claude account you're allowed to use (a work account and a personal one, say), each has its own limits.

By hand: in Claude Code, run /login and sign in with the other account. Your conversations are saved on your computer, so claude --continue in the same project folder opens the latest one again. Power users keep both accounts signed in at once by giving each terminal its own settings folder with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR. It works, and it's free, but you're retyping commands mid-build.

• Costs

  The other account's plan (Pro is $20/month in the US; Max is $100 or $200/month).

• Conversation

  Comes along, as long as it was saved.

• Catch

  It doesn't add usage to any account. Each account keeps its own limits and Anthropic's terms still apply.

3Keep going with another agent

Claude Code isn't the only coding agent. Codex, from OpenAI, is included with ChatGPT plans (Plus is $20/month, Pro starts at $100/month), and it has its own separate limits. When Claude is out, Codex can often pick up the next task in the same project folder.

• Costs

  Nothing extra if you already pay for ChatGPT.

• Conversation

  Doesn't carry over. Codex can't open Claude Code's conversation, so give it a short summary: what you're building, what's done, what's next. It can read the files Claude already wrote.

• Catch

  A different agent works a little differently, and Codex has limits of its own.

4Pay per use, or upgrade

If you'd rather not stop at all, you can pay for more.

• Usage credits

  On Pro and Max, turn them on under Settings › Usage. After your included usage runs out, you keep working and pay standard API rates from a balance you top up. They cover Claude Code too, and you can set a monthly spending cap.

• An API key

  Sign Claude Code in with a Claude Console account instead of your plan, and you pay standard API rates for every message, outside your plan's limits. In Technically Not, add the key as an API-key account (Settings › Accounts) and switch to it like any other account when your plan runs out.

• A bigger plan

  Max 5x ($100/month) or Max 20x ($200/month) gives you 5 or 20 times Pro's usage per session.

Conversation: credits and upgrades keep you in the same conversation. An API-key account is a different sign-in, so it resumes the saved conversation the same way as switching to any other account.

Which one should you pick?

• Once in a while

  Wait, and let the reset come to you.

• Every day, one account

  A bigger plan is the tidiest fix.

• Second account or ChatGPT

  Switch accounts in one click, or put Codex on the next task next to Claude.

Already paying for a second account or for ChatGPT? That's the usage Technically Not helps you reach without breaking your flow. Read the account-switching page.

Questions

Sources

Technically Not is an independent app. It isn't made by, or affiliated with, Anthropic or OpenAI.