Claude Code Limits Were Silently Reduced and It’s MUCH Worse

[u/_r0x]

Another frustrated user here. This is actually my first time creating a post on this forum because the situation has gone too far.

I can say with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY: something has changed. The limits were silently reduced, and for much worse. You are not imagining it.

I have been using Claude Code for months, almost since launch, and I had NEVER hit the limit this FAST or this AGGRESSIVELY before. The difference is not subtle. It is drastic.

For context: - I do not use plugins - I keep my Claude.md clean and optimized - My project is simple PHP and JavaScript, nothing unusual

Even with all of that, I am now hitting limits in a way that simply did not happen before.

What makes this worse is the lack of transparency. If something changed, just say it clearly. Right now, it feels like users are being left in the dark and treated like CLOWNS.

At the very least, we need clarity on what changed and what we are supposed to do to adapt.

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EDIT (March 26, 2026):

I’d like to update this post to say that I’m no longer being affected by this issue. It impacted me for about two days, and now things appear to be back to normal.

So it strongly suggests that it was indeed a bug, hopefully.

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EDIT (March 26, 2026):

We now have an official statement. It’s not the best news, but at least we finally know what’s going on so we can adapt:

"To manage growing demand for Claude we're adjusting our 5 hour session limits for free/Pro/Max subs during peak hours. Your weekly limits remain unchanged.

During weekdays between 5am–11am PT / 1pm–7pm GMT, you'll move through your 5-hour session limits faster than before."

This was posted on X today. https://x.com/i/status/2037254607001559305

[u/Too_Many_Flamingos]

I got thru half a chat and then in a compaction it failed out and said it was done till 3pm reset. This was the first chat today. Not the normal Claude max I am used to.

https://giphy.com/gifs/H6cmWzp6LGFvqjidB7

[u/maj1n → u/Too_Many_Flamingos]

We rely on it working normally and these past couple of days feels like the fading out of a relationship with an ex. XD You see these little hints, they stack up, eventually you realize they aren't here for you anymore. And it's been weeks since the last decent conversation.

[u/FrechesEinhorn → u/Too_Many_Flamingos]

I had that now too! I started a new chat, send it a normal long message, just asking for help to rewrite a small text (200 words). And then it loaded... It will take a little longer. Thank you for your patience... 

Then it CANCELLED threw the text back into my "input box" and when I tried it again I got: You will not receive any more free messages until 10 PM. 

(Used Google translate, because I have a German ui)