Claude in 2026: models, limits and plans

1. One Claude, not two

Since 16 September 2026, chat and Cowork have been merging into one Claude. You don't pick a mode: ask for anything and Claude decides whether it's a quick answer, a long task or a document. It is rolling out to Pro, Max and Ultra first, and to Team (beta) and Enterprise where an admin has turned on "Chat and Cowork unified". If your message box still shows "Chat" and "Cowork", you don't have it yet. Everything here still works.

2. Choose your model and Effort

free: Free includes Sonnet and Haiku. Opus and Fable need a paid plan.

Each model trades speed against depth and how much of your limit it uses. Sonnet is the safe default. The Effort setting sits in the model picker.

1. Click the model name in the message box to open the model picker
2. Select Sonnet for everyday work Haiku is quicker and lighter for routine jobs. Opus is for hard reasoning.
3. Leave Effort on its default setting Lower is faster and uses less of your limit. Highest is for your hardest problems only.

3. Check your limits

max, ultra: On Ultra (the old Max 20x), verified accounts have no five-hour limit. If you don't see a Current session bar, your account is verified.

Claude has a rolling five-hour session limit and weekly limits. Long chats, big files, Research and file creation use them fastest.

1. Open Settings > Usage
2. Read the Plan usage limits section at the top: your current session and weekly bars
3. Note when each one resets

4. Find your first five wins

This gives you a personal starting list, with a ready-made prompt for each task.

You are a practical AI coach helping a UK professional get real value from Claude in their first week.

About me: I'm a {{role}} at {{organisation}}. A typical week for me includes: {{weekly_tasks}}.

Task: pick the 5 tasks from my week where Claude would save me the most time.

For each task give:
1. The task, in my words
2. Exactly what Claude would do
3. The model to use: Haiku for quick routine jobs, Sonnet for everyday writing and analysis, Opus for hard reasoning
4. A ready-to-paste first prompt, under 60 words
5. A cautious estimate of time saved per week

Constraints: UK English. No hype. Only suggest things Claude can do today with file upload and web search. If a task needs a connected tool (email, calendar, CRM), say so.

Format: a table with those 5 columns, then one line telling me which task to try first and why.

• Your role, for example: operations manager
• Your organisation, for example: a 40-person logistics firm in Birmingham
• Your usual weekly tasks, for example: supplier emails, a Monday KPI report in Excel, two client calls, updating our returns policy

Where to paste: A new chat with Sonnet selected

What you should get: A five-row table where every task is clearly yours, each with a model and a short prompt, then a clear first pick. Check the time savings are modest rather than dramatic, and cross out anything that relies on a tool you haven't connected.

Follow-ups

• Take task 1 and walk me through doing it now in under 20 minutes. Ask me for anything you need.
• Rewrite the table assuming I'm on the Free plan, so only Sonnet and Haiku.
• Which of these tasks would be worth connecting my email or calendar for? Explain in two lines each.

5. Summarise an email on Haiku

Switch to Haiku first. It's quick and light on your limits, which makes it ideal for routine reading and drafting.

You are my executive assistant. Summarise the email below for a busy {{role}}.

Give me:
- One line on what the sender wants from me
- Up to 3 bullets of key facts (dates, amounts in £, names)
- Any deadline, in UK date format
- A suggested reply of no more than 100 words: polite, direct, UK English

If anything is unclear or missing, list it under "Questions to ask" rather than guessing.

Email:
{{email_text}}

• Your role, for example: operations manager
• The email (paste it in full), for example: Hi Jo, following our call, we can't hold the current rate of £1,850 per load beyond 30 November. From 1 December it rises to £1,990. Can you confirm volumes for December by Friday so we can reserve vehicles? Thanks, Mark (Northway Haulage)

Where to paste: A new chat with Haiku selected in the model picker

What you should get: A short summary with the £ figures and dates pulled out correctly, a deadline in UK format and a reply you could send with light edits. Check every number against the original email.

Follow-ups

• Make the reply firmer: ask them to hold the current rate until 31 December in return for confirmed volumes.
• Turn the key facts into a two-line note I can forward to my finance manager.

6. Check you're set

Before moving on, confirm the basics.

1. You can open the model picker and know when to use Haiku, Sonnet and Opus
2. You've seen your session and weekly bars in Settings > Usage
3. You have a five-task list and have tried the first prompt

Quick check

1. Where do you check how much of your Claude limit you've used?

   • Settings > Privacy
   • Settings > Usage (correct)
   • Customize > Connectors
   • The Projects page

   Settings > Usage shows your session and weekly limits and when they reset.

2. You're not sure which model to use for a writing task. Which should you start with?

   • Haiku
   • Sonnet (correct)
   • Opus
   • Fable

   Anthropic's own advice is to start with Sonnet when you're unsure.

3. Which plan do you need to use Opus?

   • Free
   • Pro or above (correct)
   • Enterprise only
   • Team only

   Opus is available on Pro plans and above; Free has Sonnet and Haiku.