Claude made session limits run out faster during weekday peak hours
Anthropic began draining 5-hour session limits faster for Free, Pro and Max users on weekdays 5am-11am PT; weekly limits were unchanged and about 7% of users were expected to be affected.
What changed
- Limits cut, Mar 2026
- Before: Same 5-hour session allowance at all times
- After: Smaller effective session allowance during weekday peak hours (5am-11am PT)
- Existing customers: Applied to all Free, Pro and Max subscribers at the same price
Cheaper alternatives to Claude
At 1 user, Claude costs $20/mo. 3 AI assistants cost less:
- Gemini: $4.99/mo (Google AI Plus), covers 91% of Claude; missing or partial: Code & file workspace (partly), Prebuilt app integrations (partly), Custom tools & MCP, Work app connectors (partly), Multi-agent orchestration
- ChatGPT: $8/mo (Go), covers 99% of Claude; missing or partial: Brand voice & style guide (partly)
- Microsoft Copilot: $9.99/mo (Microsoft 365 Personal), covers 84% of Claude; missing or partial: Canvas and artifacts (partly), Agentic coding tool, Work app connectors (partly)
Claude alternatives: 3 cheaper AI assistants compared, at every size.
Sources
Every price and change for Claude: Claude.