Summary

  • Anthropic is under legal scrutiny due to its Claude Max AI subscription offerings.
  • Karl Kahn, the plaintiff, claims that the Max 5x and Max 20x tiers provide less usage than what was promised.
  • The lawsuit requests damages, restitution, injunctive relief, and class action status.

Anthropic is currently facing a class action lawsuit that claims the company misrepresented the usage included with its premium Claude Max subscription services.

The lawsuit, filed on June 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by Karl Kahn, aims to represent other subscribers who purchased the Max plans and alleges that Anthropic misled its users about the actual usage included in these subscriptions.

Kahn reported that he started with Claude Pro in June 2025, later upgrading to Max 5x in January and Max 20x in April of this year. He claims to have overpaid for both subscriptions, received less usage than was advertised, and had to buy additional usage once he hit the limits of his plans.

Kati Daffan, Founding Partner at Vaca Daffan LLP and Kahn's attorney, stated that the case is based on consumer protection laws designed to prevent companies from deceiving customers regarding their products and services.

"This is a strong candidate for a class action because the law clearly states that companies must be truthful in their advertising and marketing,” Daffan told Decrypt. “If they fail to do so, they can be held accountable, required to amend their practices, and issue refunds. Legal actions of this nature are filed every day against businesses that misrepresent aspects of their offerings."

Anthropic provides various subscription options for individual users, ranging from a free plan with limited access to its paid Pro and Max plans. The Pro plan is priced at $20 per month or $200 annually, designed for regular users, while the Max plans cater to those who utilize Claude more extensively.

The Max 5x subscription costs $100 monthly and is marketed as offering five times the usage of the Pro plan per session. The Max 20x plan is priced at $200 per month, promising twenty times the Pro plan's capacity per session. Max subscribers are also said to gain priority access to new models and features, as well as access to Claude Code and increased usage limits to minimize interruptions during extended tasks.

The lawsuit claims that Anthropic failed to clearly define how usage was calculated, complicating subscribers' ability to ascertain if they were receiving the promised level of access under the Max subscriptions.

Daffan noted that the lack of transparency may explain the absence of prior similar legal actions, asserting that consumers lacked the necessary information to confirm whether they were receiving the service level that had been advertised.

"It's not straightforward for an average consumer to know if they are getting what was promised, as that information is simply not made available,” she explained. “Many users have voiced concerns on Reddit and other forums, feeling they might not have received their expected service, but it required significant effort to connect the dots and understand the situation."

The lawsuit is seeking damages, restitution, injunctive and declaratory relief, attorney fees, and associated costs, and it requests the court to grant class action status for all U.S. residents who have purchased or upgraded to a Claude Max 5x or Max 20x subscription via Claude.com or the Claude desktop application since April 9, 2025.

Anthropic has yet to respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.

The company is not the only one promoting premium AI subscriptions with higher usage allowances. Competitors such as OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity also offer plans ranging from $100 to $200 per month, with promises of enhanced access to advanced AI models and increased usage limits.

This lawsuit follows closely behind Anthropic's launch of its latest AI models, Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5. While Mythos 5 is restricted to approved cybersecurity entities, critical infrastructure operators, government partners, and select researchers, Fable 5 is available for general public use with additional safeguards in place.

However, the rollout faced backlash from users and developers over usage limitations, “invisible safeguards,” and constraints, as well as the model’s tendency to consume subscription limits more rapidly than previous versions. Shortly after, the U.S. government ordered Anthropic to halt access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for foreign nationals due to national security concerns linked to a potential vulnerability.