[BUG] [Billing] Max 5x → Max 20x upgrade fails with "Unable to update subscription" — same pattern as #10832, #50710, #43118
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?
Max 5x subscription is active and billing normally, but every attempt to upgrade to Max 20x fails reproducibly across multiple days, cards, devices, and browsers.
Errors observed: "Payment failed", "Unable to update subscription", "Stripe is temporarily unavailable."
Critical diagnostic: Stripe and my payment method are confirmed working on this account. I successfully purchased $38.72 of extra usage credits the same day, on the same card, through the same account — charge processed cleanly and credits applied immediately.
This rules out card issues (Indian card and UK-issued card with correct UK billing address both fail on upgrade; Indian card succeeds for extra usage), bank issues (bank confirms no block), network/browser issues (tested Chrome, incognito, mobile app, iOS Restore Purchases), Stripe outage, and India-specific RBI friction.
The remaining variable is the subscription state machine on Anthropic's backend. "Unable to update subscription" specifically points to a stuck upgrade/proration flow.
Same pattern as #10832, #43118, #50710, #45890, #41499.
Support conversation ID 215474130697182 filed via in-app messenger; Fin escalated after explicit request; 24+ hours, no human response.
Account: India-based, Max 5x active, requesting Max 20x.
What Should Happen?
It should just function right and take payment seamlessly.
Error Messages/Logs
UI errors observed during Max 5x → Max 20x upgrade attempts:
1. "Payment failed. Please try again later. If the problem persists, contact support at https://support.anthropic.com/"
2. "Unable to update subscription"
3. "Stripe is temporarily unavailable; please retry."
All three errors observed across multiple attempts on different days, different cards, different devices, and different browsers.
For comparison, on the same day from the same account on the same card, a successful $38.72 extra usage purchase processed cleanly with no errors — confirming the failure is specific to the subscription upgrade flow, not the payment processing pipeline.
No browser console errors visible to user. No error codes surfaced in the UI. Errors appear directly in the Settings → Billing upgrade flow.
Related issue #45890 includes captured network logs showing the underlying API call:
PUT https://claude.ai/api/organizations/[org_id]/subscription
Status: 400 Bad Request
This pattern is consistent with the upgrade/proration flow being rejected at the application layer (not at Stripe), suggesting stuck subscription state on the Anthropic backend rather than a payment processor failure.Steps to Reproduce
- Have an active Max 5x subscription on a Claude.ai account, paid via Stripe web checkout, billing normally.
- Sign in to claude.ai on web. Navigate to Settings → Billing.
- Click "Upgrade" and select Max 20x.
- On the Stripe checkout, enter payment details. Tested with:
- Multiple Indian-issued cards (Visa and Mastercard, debit and credit) with Indian billing addresses
- One UK-issued bank card with correct UK billing address and valid postcode
- Both Stripe Link saved methods and manual card entry
- Complete 3DS/OTP if prompted.
- Submit payment.
Observed: "Payment failed", "Unable to update subscription", or "Stripe is temporarily unavailable" surface in the UI.
Expected: Subscription upgrades to Max 20x with prorated charge, account state and rate limits update.
Control test (isolates the bug):
- Same account, same browser session, same day:
- Navigate to Settings → Billing → Buy extra usage
- Enter the same Indian card that failed in step 4
- Submit a $38.72 charge
Result: Charge succeeds immediately, credits apply within seconds, no errors. This proves the failure is specific to the subscription upgrade flow — not Stripe, the card, the account, or the network.
Tested across Chrome (regular and incognito), iOS mobile app, home WiFi and mobile data, no VPN, signed out and back in, cache cleared, iOS Restore Purchases attempted (no orphaned subscription).
100% reproducible over multiple days. Upgrade flow has never succeeded; extra usage flow succeeds every time.
Claude Model
Other
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
latest
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
macOS
Terminal/Shell
Terminal.app (macOS)
Additional Information
_No response_
37 Comments
Found 3 possible duplicate issues:
This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
This issue has been automatically closed as a duplicate of #54204.
If this is incorrect, please re-open this issue or create a new one.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
I have the same issue.
I can buy credits, but the upgrade doesn't work!
i think the anthropic team just dont care about this
I am facing same issue.I am unable to upgrade from pro to max plan.
same issue
SAME F*** ISSUE!
We are also facing the same issue
Same here! This is a joke! "Uhh aahh we are such a fantastic AI company...." but they can't even get a simple payment system to work. How is anyone supposed to trust this company? A joke!
Same here! It's crazy.
Facing same issue here
Same here.
same here
same here. trying to upgrade my pro plan to max 5x. this has become very frustrating.
Found a fix that worked for me
Go to the billing page or the Anthropic gifting portal.
Purchase a Claude Max Gift Subscription using your card.
Send the gift link to your own email address, then redeem it on your active account.
It still doesn't work! Please fix it.
This works
Same issue, no fix! Their support is also useless, other than their parrot agent closing the tickets after your second reply. Unbelievable.
Same Issue:
If one gifts themselves the 20x plan (AIm to upgrade from the 5x plan), what will happen to the unused 5x plan amount?
I'm glad I did a search for this because I have been dealing with this for over a month trying every card I have, credit, debit, venmo, cashapp. All failed. I am now filing a complaint with the FTC, CFPB, and have sent them a pre-litigation demand to refund the extra usage as a result of their failure to process the payment.
By falsely blaming our financial institutions for a server-side state-machine lock , while simultaneously leaving the pipes wide open to clear continuous pay-as-you-go micro-transactions on the exact same cards, they are actively capturing a hyper-inflated premium under false pretenses and limiting their compute by not allowing us to upgrade to the 20x plan.
🚨 CRITICAL UPDATE: The "void_invoice" bug is an account-level gatekeeping block, NOT a payment pipeline failure. (Verified via A/B Control Test)
Adding some massive technical telemetry here to help anyone stuck in this
void_invoice/payment_intent_unexpected_stateloop while trying to upgrade from Pro/Max 5x to Max 20x.Like many of you, my primary account (heavy development usage, extensive history of buying piecemeal overage credits) was completely hard-blocked from upgrading. Every attempt thrown immediately by Anthropic's frontend server with the generic orange "Payment failed. Please try again later" banner. My banking logs showed zero authorization requests hitting the network. The server-side was killing the
PaymentIntentinstantly.The Control Test:
To isolate whether this was a Stripe billing address, Link tokenization, or routing issue, I set up a completely fresh, zero-history entity account profile under Anthropic for Nonprofits using the exact same machine, browser, and network stack.
The Result:
The Architectural Footprint:
This explicitly rules out standard card/bank blocks, Stripe Link caching issues, or localized network drops. Anthropic's backend proration and account-state machinery is actively evaluating user profile compute history at the application layer.
If your account has high usage data, the state machine is failing to reconcile the proration logic (or intentionally depressing flat-rate upgrades), stranding you in a loop where they happily accept ad-hoc overage credit cash while blocking your path to predictable flat-rate pricing.
Stop wrestling with your banks. The block is inside the house.
Can confirm a similar issue on my side.
Heavy usage account, multiple working cards tested, different browsers/devices/networks — same result every time.
Stripe (link) and my banks confirmed the payment fails before authorization even reaches the bank, so this does not look like a normal card decline.
same here, incredible
I noticed that when my weekly limit was unlocked, I could purchase a higher package.
I have the same "Payment failed. Please try again later. If the problem persists, contact support at https://support.anthropic.com/" issue, so annoying
I tried everything but the issue is as under:
1) After error the billing system does not call link and send info to the bank
2) This error is maybe wiped out from claude's billing database in ~22 hours. (Have tried it about 3 times and it was always ~22 hours)
3) You will get an attempt to then enter your details and link will give a popup to enter ur creds / OTP etc... In my all 3 attempt I got only 1 chance to enter a) correct OTP, b) Ensure card is funded (if debit card), c) Transactions limits are open
4) Link checks with bank and if all the above 3 hold the payment is processed. If it fails due to any reason, you are back to step 1 above and need to wait ~22 hours.
Logic of ~22 hour wait ..... (cannot understand and seems strange way to protect fraud).
It has been fixed, I've been able to upgrade from the alert of almost reaching the limit
Currently having the same issue*
issue still present, 25th of may
Issue still happens. Buying it as a gift to yourself is a trick you can do to get around it for now.
The issue is still unresolved
Pro → Max upgrade failing in India, "Payment failed" on every attempt, bank confirms no issues. and fin bot is completely useless on this one
Tried the gifting workaround too but payment fails on that as well. The Funny thing is I even consulted Claude about having someone else gift it to me, and it flagged that gift subscriptions have their own documented auto-cancellation bug where accounts revert to Free mid-period. So that's a real gamble with someone else's money for something that might just break anyway.
No working path to upgrade exists right now for me and its really frustrating
Same issue here — Max 5x → Max 20x upgrade blocked by stuck canceled PaymentIntent (void_invoice). Filed as #62746. Tagging for visibility — this is affecting multiple users and remains unresolved.
I'm facing the same issue.
same issue
I solved the problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How?
I make the payment (credit card not debit) when I’m about to reach the limit.