API credits for Max and Team plans

Claude Max and Team plans include monthly credits for the Claude API. To claim them, you link a Claude Console organization to your plan. Credits then arrive in that organization each billing cycle (or monthly for annual plans), and you can use them to build and run your own applications and agents. You don't need to add a payment method to Claude Platform.

At a glance

API credits amounts

*On Team plans, credits for all seats are pooled into one monthly balance, capped at $500 USD. Each monthly credit, including the first, is based on the seats on your plan at the start of that billing month. For example, a team with three Standard seats and two Premium seats receives $260 USD a month. Adding another Premium seat raises the next month's credit to $360 USD.

Eligibility

• Your eligible plan must be active and in good standing.
• New subscribers can claim credits after 7 days on an eligible plan.
• Plans purchased through Claude for iOS or Claude for Android are eligible. Claim your credits on claude.ai in a web browser.
• Free, Pro, and Enterprise plans aren't eligible.

Claim your credits

Before you begin

You need both of the following roles:

If you don't have a Console organization, create one at platform.claude.com first, or create one during the claim flow.

Steps

1. 1

   Open billing settings

   On claude.ai, go to Settings > Billing on a Max plan, or Organization settings > Billing on a Team plan.

2. 2

   Link a Console organization

   In the API credits section, choose the Console organization that should receive the credits, then accept the program terms by linking.

3. 3

   Start building

   Your credits appear in the Console, in the Promotional credits section under Settings > Billing. Create an API key and make your first request. See Get started.

Subscribers who aren't eligible don't see API credits in their settings page. If you think you should be eligible but don't see the API credits, reach out to support.

What the credits cover

These API credits can only be used on the Claude Platform. The following table shows which products are covered:

How credits are applied

• Timing. Credits arrive each billing cycle, shortly after your plan payment is processed. On annual plans, credits arrive monthly.
• Order. Included credits are spent first, then any credits you've purchased. Auto-reload is based only on your purchased balance. It reloads when that balance reaches your threshold, even if included credits remain.
• Expiry. Unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle (or monthly for annual plans) and don't roll over.
• Sharing. Every API key and workspace in the linked organization draws from the same balance. To cap spending on a project, give it its own workspace and set that workspace's spend limit.
• Visibility. Your credits appear in the Console under Settings > Billing, in the Promotional credits section, with the amount and expiry date.
• Your Claude plan. Credits don't change your usage limits in Claude or Claude Code.

Spend limits and rate limits

Credits don't change how rate limits and spend limits work:

• Usage paid with credits counts toward your organization's monthly spend cap. Spend caps reset on the first of each calendar month, while credits refresh on your billing cycle (or monthly for annual plans).
• Organizations linked to an eligible plan move up to at least the Start tier. If their monthly credits are over $200 USD, they move up to at least the Build tier.
• Claiming credits doesn't otherwise change your usage tier, and these credits don't count toward moving to a higher tier.

When credits run out

• If the organization has other credits, requests continue using purchased credits. Auto-reload, if it's turned on, adds credits to the purchased balance.
• If the organization has no credits left, API requests stop until your next monthly API credits arrive. Usage is never charged to your Claude plan. To keep building, purchase credits or turn on auto-reload in the Console.
• If your organization is invoiced through Anthropic sales, usage beyond the API credits is billed as usual.

When the balance is exhausted, requests return:

Your credit balance is too low to access the Anthropic API. Please go to Plans & Billing to upgrade or purchase credits.

If an organization holds only these credits and sends a request they don't cover, such as a Claude Code session, Claude Code displays:

Credit balance too low · Add funds: https://platform.claude.com/settings/billing

If your plan changes

Make your credits go further

Your monthly cost depends mainly on the model you choose and how often your application runs. To stretch your credits:

• Choose a model that fits each task. To learn how, see Choosing the right model.
• Use prompt caching for repeated context.
• Use the Message Batches API for work that doesn't need an immediate response. It costs 50 percent less.
• Check pricing and track spend on the Cost page.

Related

• Rate limits and spend limits
• Workspaces
• Pricing
• Help Center: API credits for Max and Team plans