The usage limit on your $20/month subscription is not $20 of API tokens (if it w...

dudeinhawaii · 2026-02-19T06:19:12 1771481952

I think you've stated this in reverse.

API limits are infinite but you'd blow through $20 of usage in a maybe 1 hours or less of intense Opus use.

The subscription at $20/mo (or $200) allows for vastly more queries than $20 would buy you via API but you are constrained by hourly/weekly limits.

The $20/mo sub user will take a lot longer to complete a high token count task (due to start/stop) BUT they will cap their costs.

scwoodal · 2026-02-19T04:21:14 1771474874

So I’m not allowed to use the $20 plan and max out its limits?

alexandre_m · 2026-02-19T05:24:49 1771478689

Max out on their terms, not yours.

Their bet is that most people will not fill up 100% of their weekly usage for 4 consecutive weeks of their monthly plan, because they are humans and the limits impede long running tasks during working hours.

ac29 · 2026-02-19T05:21:39 1771478499

You can max it out via first party clients only.

I dont like it either, but its not an unreasonable restriction.

sambull · 2026-02-19T12:37:01 1771504621

I do believe it's unreasonable. The limits are the limits, you reach them there's no more free lunch after.

Fix the limits, so the limits are reached at a rate that sustains their business.. ? obviously this WILL happen eventually when they need to pay for things.

ac29 · 2026-02-19T15:37:22 1771515442

"A rate that sustains their business" at the moment probably looks like API pricing or maybe even higher. That means subscriptions get significantly more expensive and/or limited, which is maybe where things are headed.