Anthropic hit with class action over allegedly misleading Claude Max pricing
Anthropic is facing a proposed class action that accuses the AI startup of misleading customers about how much usage is actually included with its premium Claude Max subscriptions. The complaint, filed June 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by customer Karl Kahn, seeks to represent all U.S. Claude subscribers who bought Max 5x or Max 20x plans and alleges the company overstated the access those tiers provide.
Plaintiff’s timeline and allegations
- Kahn says he joined Claude Pro in June 2025, upgraded to Max 5x in January, then moved to Max 20x in April. He alleges he overpaid for both Max tiers, received less usage than advertised, and at times had to purchase additional usage after hitting undisclosed limits.
- The complaint contends Anthropic failed to clearly explain how usage is measured, leaving subscribers unable to verify whether they received the promised amount of access.
Lawyer: consumer protection, transparency issues
Kati Daffan, founding partner at Vaca Daffan LLP and Kahn’s counsel, framed the case as a straight-forward consumer-protection matter. “The law is very clear that companies have to be honest about their advertising and marketing,” she told Decrypt. Daffan also noted the lack of transparency likely made it hard for users to spot the alleged shortfall quickly: users on Reddit and other forums have expressed suspicions, but the firm claims required data to confirm those suspicions wasn’t readily available.
What Anthropic’s Max tiers promise
Anthropic offers a free tier, a Pro plan ($20/month or $200/year) for regular users, and Max plans for heavier users. Max 5x is priced at $100/month and is marketed as providing five times the Pro plan’s usage per session; Max 20x costs $200/month and is marketed as 20 times the Pro session capacity. Anthropic also markets Max subscribers as getting priority access to new models and features, access to Claude Code, and higher usage limits to reduce interruptions during long workflows.
Legal relief sought and scope
The lawsuit asks the court to certify a class of all U.S. residents who purchased or upgraded to Max 5x or Max 20x through Claude.com or the desktop app between April 9, 2025, and the present. It seeks damages, restitution, injunctive and declaratory relief, attorneys’ fees, and costs. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.
Broader context: premium AI subscriptions and recent model rollout
Anthropic is not alone in selling premium AI subscriptions tied to higher usage — OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity all offer plans in the $100–$200/month range with promises of expanded access and larger usage allowances. The lawsuit follows Anthropic’s recent launches of Claude Fable 5 (public with added safeguards) and Claude Mythos 5 (restricted to approved cybersecurity organizations, critical infrastructure operators, government partners, and select researchers). Users and developers quickly criticized the rollout for “invisible safeguards,” restrictive behavior, and faster-than-expected consumption of subscription allowances.
Days after the launches, the U.S. government ordered Anthropic to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for foreign nationals, citing national-security concerns over a potential jailbreak vulnerability — an action that has amplified scrutiny of the company’s products and access controls.
Why it matters
Beyond potential refunds or damages, the case highlights friction around transparency in how AI service providers measure and bill for usage. If certified and successful, the lawsuit could spur clearer disclosures from Anthropic and other vendors about session limits, measurement methods, and when paid allowances are consumed — a consequential issue for power users who pay premium prices for predictable, high-capacity access.
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