Claude Max vs OpenLimits
Claude Max is Anthropic’s premium web subscription tier. OpenLimits is a managed proxy service at €120 per month that provides access to both Claude and Codex models through any development tool. The comparison below focuses on developer use cases.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Claude Max ($100/mo) | Claude Max ($200/mo) | OpenLimits (€120/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Request admission | 5x Pro limits | 20x Pro limits | 30 starts/second |
| Account cooldowns | Still possible | Less frequent | Managed by pool |
| API access | No | No | Full REST API |
| Claude Code CLI | Web only | Web only | Full support |
| Cursor integration | No | No | Yes |
| Codex/GPT models | No | No | Included |
| Extended thinking | Higher limit | Highest limit | Supported |
| Token analytics | No | No | Full dashboard |
| Effort levels | No | No | Yes (low/med/high) |
| Automatic failover | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| All models | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interface | Web chat | Web chat | Any API client |
The core difference: web chat vs API
Claude Max gives you higher limits on Anthropic's web interface. That's it. You still can't use Claude Max with:
- Claude Code CLI (terminal-based coding agent)
- Cursor, Windsurf, or other IDE integrations
- Custom scripts or applications using the API
- Conductor or other multi-agent tools
- OpenCode, OpenClaw, or similar open-source tools
OpenLimits is a standard REST API that the tools accept. Set the variable once. It also includes Codex and GPT models that Claude Max does not have.
Subscription limits vs pooled routing
Claude Max at $100/mo gives you 5x Pro limits. The $200/mo tier gives 20x. But “5x more” of a low limit is still a limit. Developers using Claude Code heavily report hitting Max limits within a few hours of intensive work.
OpenLimits routes eligible requests across available provider accounts instead of applying Claude Max's user subscription windows. A global guard still limits request starts, and provider-wide outages can still interrupt work.
When Claude Max fits
- You exclusively use the Claude web interface
- You don't need API access or CLI tool integration
- The $200/mo tier's 20x limits are genuinely enough for your usage
- You prefer Anthropic's first-party interface and don't use code editors with AI
When OpenLimits fits
- You use Claude Code, Cursor, or any API-based tool
- You want pooled API routing instead of a single-user subscription window
- You want token analytics and usage tracking
- You want a single API key that works everywhere
- You want GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra, and Luna alongside Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku
- The €120/mo price point is better than $300+ for Max + Codex Pro combined
Switching from Claude Max
The migration changes the endpoint and credentials used by your client:
- Sign up at openlimits.app and get your API key
- Set
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://openlimits.appin your shell profile - Set
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-key - Cancel your Claude Max subscription
Every Claude tool will automatically use OpenLimits. See our Claude Code setup guide or Cursor setup guide for detailed instructions.