Claude Max Plan Produces Drastically Shorter Output Than Pro/Plus Plan - Same Model, Same Prompt

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

[BUG] Claude Max Plan Produces Drastically Shorter Output Than Pro/Plus Plan - Same Model, Same Prompt
Preflight Checklist
[x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported with this specific reproduction case
[x] This is a single bug report
[x] I am using the latest version of Claude (claude.ai web interface)
Summary
Claude Max plan ($100/month) produces drastically shorter code output than Pro/Plus plan ($20/month) when using the exact same model (Opus 4.5) and the exact same prompt.

Pro/Plus: Successfully generates ~5,000 lines of code in a single response
Max: Cannot complete even ~1,000 lines - stops mid-response and cannot continue
This is a plan-specific bug, not a model limitation, rate limit, or context window issue.

Environment
Property | Value -- | -- Platform | claude.ai web interface Browser | Chrome/Edge (tested multiple) Model Used | Claude Opus 4.5 Plans Tested | Pro/Plus ($20/mo) vs Max ($100/mo) Date Range | January-February 2026
Technical Hypothesis
Based on patterns observed, potential causes include:

Different max_tokens parameter being set server-side for Max vs Pro plans
Different system prompts being injected that instruct shorter responses
Routing to different server pools (similar to the August 2025 bugs Anthropic acknowledged)
Intentional throttling to manage compute costs on higher-tier plans
Extended thinking being silently enabled on Max, consuming output budget invisibly
Requested Actions
Investigate why Max plan produces shorter output than Pro/Plus
Confirm whether different max_tokens values are applied per plan
Disclose any differences in how requests are processed between plans
Fix the disparity so Max delivers at least equivalent output to Pro
Compensate affected users who paid premium prices for degraded service
Impact
Financial: Users paying 5x more ($100-200 vs $20) receive worse service
Productivity: Developers cannot complete code generation tasks
Trust: Pattern of "refund and close ticket" damages confidence in Anthropic
Legal: Potential violation of consumer protection laws (bait-and-switch)
Additional Context
I am a professional developer using Claude for SaaS platform development (Vue 3/Flask/MongoDB stack). Code generation is a core use case. The Max plan was purchased specifically for increased capacity for coding tasks. Instead, it delivered reduced capability.

After reporting this to Anthropic support, my subscription was cancelled and refunded without any investigation. Upon re-subscribing to Pro/Plus, full output capability was immediately restored.

Related Issues
#3511 - MAX plan feels like PRO plan
#3650 - MAX plan limits cut in half silently
#3873 - Hitting usage limits after barely over an hour (MAX plan)
#16157 - Instantly hitting usage limits with Max subscription (490+ 👍)
#22435 - Inconsistent quota accounting, legal liability claim
This is not a feature request. This is a critical bug affecting paying customers.

What Should Happen?

Max should have more power and capacity than Pro

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Create a prompt to work on 2000 lines of code on Pro and then on Max. Pro finishes without issues. Max gets cut and stops to reply

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

.

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

THIS HAPPENS ON THE CLAUDE WEB DESKTOP CHAT.