Anthropic’s AI coding assistant, Claude Code, has been widely embraced by developers since its release due to its powerful codebase understanding capabilities and terminal integration features. Recent online activity suggests that Anthropic may be planning to expand Claude Code access to Claude Pro users, breaking the previous limitation of only being available to Max subscribers or via API. This move could significantly lower the barrier to entry, allowing more developers to experience the efficiency gains from AI-driven coding.
Background: The Unique Value of Claude Code
Claude Code is an AI coding tool launched by Anthropic in February 2025, based on the Claude3.7Sonnet model. It supports direct operations within the terminal, featuring deep codebase understanding, code refactoring, debugging, and Git workflow management. Compared to other coding assistants like Cursor or GitHub Copilot, Claude Code achieves seamless integration with platforms such as GitHub and GitLab through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling it to handle complex development tasks and significantly boost productivity.
Prior to this, access to Claude Code was restricted to users on the Max subscription plan (targeted at high-frequency users) or required separate payment via the Anthropic API, limiting its accessibility. Recent online discussions indicate that Anthropic may adjust its strategy to allow Pro users (with a monthly fee of $20) to use Claude Code with a quota, bringing convenience to more developers.
Core Changes: New Opportunities for Pro Users
Broader Access
According to online information, Anthropic recently updated the description of Claude Code, suggesting that Pro users may soon be able to use the tool with a quota without additional API costs or Max subscriptions. Previously, Pro users could only call Claude models via the API and were unable to directly access the terminal functions of Claude Code. This openness will make the $20/month Pro plan more attractive, covering a wide range of users from independent developers to small teams.
Strong Functionality Maintenance
Claude Code's core functions are expected to remain robust even after opening up to Pro users. Developers can still leverage its features such as exploring codebases, writing test cases, performing code reviews, and automating Git operations. Online dynamics show that Claude Code has excelled in benchmark tests such as SWE-bench (72.5%) and Terminal-bench (43.2%), making it one of the most powerful AI coding tools currently available. The integration of Pro users will further promote its application in real-world projects.
Pricing and Usage Limits
Although specific details have yet to be announced, industry insiders speculate that Pro users may face certain usage quotas, similar to the 45 messages/5 hours limit in the free Claude plan. In comparison, Max subscriptions offer higher usage limits, suitable for heavy users. Anthropic's flexible pricing strategy (such as on-demand API payments and fixed monthly fees for Max plans) indicates that they are striving to balance cost and accessibility, aiming to attract more developers into their ecosystem.
Industry Impact: Acceleration of AI Coding Tool Adoption
The opening of Claude Code to Pro users marks Anthropic's further deployment in the field of AI coding. By lowering the barriers to entry, this move is expected to attract more small and medium-sized development teams and independent developers, promoting the popularization of AI-assisted coding in open-source projects, startups, and educational sectors. Online dynamics also mention that the usage of Claude Code grew by 40% on the day of the release of Claude4, showing strong market demand for this tool.
At the same time, this change intensifies competition in the AI coding tool market. Unlike IDE-based tools like Cursor and Windsurf, Claude Code's terminal integration and MCP support give it advantages in automated workflows and cross-platform collaboration. However, Anthropic needs to address potential usage quota restrictions and API dependency issues to ensure smooth user experiences for Pro users.