Anthropic has broadened access to Claude Code's cloud sessions and tied the rollout to a short promotional offer: eligible individual subscribers can claim up to $250 in free cloud-session credits if they act quickly. The change puts a remote, persistent execution option into the hands of Pro and Max subscribers while separating those cloud-session credits from normal Claude usage limits.
What Anthropic is shipping: cloud sessions for Claude Code
Claude Code's cloud sessions run the model and user tasks on Anthropic's infrastructure rather than on a subscriber's local machine. As the company put it in plain terms, cloud sessions allow you to "start a task, leave it running remotely, and return later to review the work." Anthropic had previously exposed cloud sessions to some users through a research preview; the company now says those sessions are officially available to eligible Pro and Max subscribers.
Promotional credits: $100 for Pro, $250 for Max, timelines and limits
Anthropic is offering promotional cloud-session credits to encourage subscribers to try the feature. Eligible Pro users receive $100 in credits, while Max subscribers get $250. The promotion applies automatically when a subscriber starts a cloud session: "If you hit a limit locally, keep going in the cloud until your credit runs out," Anthropic said.
The offer is time-limited. Subscribers must claim the promotion from Claude's website by October 7; any remaining promotional balance expires on November 4. After the promotional balance is exhausted, cloud sessions revert to counting against the customer's normal plan limits. Anthropic also notes there is no separate charge for the cloud container itself.
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Get a security leadHow to start a cloud session: sites, apps and the CLI
Anthropic documented multiple ways to begin a cloud session. In our tests, you can start a session from claude.ai/code, from the Code section of the Claude mobile app, from the desktop app, or from the command line using the exact CLI invocation claude --cloud. Those entry points reflect Anthropic's intention to make cloud execution available across its web, mobile, desktop and developer tooling.
Who is eligible and how the credits interact with normal limits
The promotion is limited to individual Pro and Max subscribers who had an active subscription when the promotion began on September 23. The promotional credits are applied separately from normal Claude usage limits and are used automatically for cloud sessions until they are exhausted. Once the promotional balance runs out, users return to their plan's standard limits for cloud sessions.
What this means for technologists, procurement teams, and end users
- Technologists and security teams: Cloud sessions let long-running or resource-heavy tasks continue on Anthropic's infrastructure without relying on a local machine to remain active; during the promotion, teams can experiment without impacting their existing plan quotas because the credits are segregated.
- Procurement and operations leaders: The offer is a short window to evaluate cloud-session capabilities without an added container fee; the lack of a separate cloud-container charge simplifies cost comparisons, but the October 7 claim deadline and November 4 expiration make timing critical.
- Developers and individual end users: Multiple access points—web, mobile, desktop, and the claude --cloud CLI—mean users can pick the workflow that fits them; however, only individual Pro and Max subscribers active on September 23 qualify for the promotional credits, so eligibility depends on subscription timing.
The promotion positions Anthropic's cloud sessions as a hands-off way to run Claude Code tasks remotely and to do so without immediately hitting local limits—at least while promotional credits remain. The offer's brief window and automatic application make trial simple for eligible subscribers, but the deadlines (claim by October 7; promotional balance expires November 4) and the post-credit return to normal plan limits are immediate constraints subscribers should track.
