Anthropic appears to have limited Claude Code access for new Pro subscribers as of April 21, 2026. Customers theorize that high user engagement has forced the company to test new subscription plan models.

The New Stack is a publication covering trends and technologies in cloud-native development, DevOps, and software delivery. Developers can learn about containerization, Kubernetes, and cloud computing, as well as explore topics such as microservices architecture, serverless computing, and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.

The New Stack

Anthropic appears to be testing the removal of Claude Code from its $20/month Pro plan, with the change spotted on the pricing page and confirmed as a 2% test by Anthropic's Head of Growth. The move is driven by a significant increase in per-subscriber engagement that has strained the company's current plan structure. Anthropic is exploring new subscription models but hasn't finalized changes yet. The Pro plan would still include Claude Cowork, an agentic tool for knowledge workers built on Claude Code. The news has caused concern among developers and vibe coders who rely on Claude Code access at the Pro tier.

Anthropic is thinking about removing Claude Code from its cheapest plan