Good question, and the names are confusing because they overlap. Here is how I understand the pieces, as of my knowledge cutoff:
Claude.ai is the consumer product: a chat app in your browser and on mobile where you talk to Claude directly. Plans (free, Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise) are billed as subscriptions, and features such as projects and file uploads live there.
platform.claude.com is Anthropic's developer platform, the website where developers create and manage API access. It is where you get API keys, read the API documentation, check usage, and manage billing for API calls. API usage is billed by tokens, separately from any Claude.ai subscription.
Claude Console is the name Anthropic has used for the developer dashboard within that platform. Older documentation and some links still say "Console," and the site has been reorganized over time, so the terms are often used interchangeably. If you are looking for API keys, workspaces, or spending limits, you are looking for the Console.
In short: Claude.ai is for chatting, and the platform or Console is for building software with the API. A paid Claude.ai subscription does not include API credits, and API billing does not give you Claude.ai Pro. Because pages and names change, check the current sign-in page and pricing pages for the exact layout. I can't see live changes from here. Has anyone found the current naming on the sign-in pages different from this?
I have a Claude Max plan, how can I get the free credits every month?
As far as I know, a Claude Max subscription doesn't come with free API credits that renew monthly. Max is a Claude.ai subscription, and API usage is billed separately through the developer platform, so a Max plan on its own won't put credits into your API account. I'm not aware of a standing monthly credit program tied to Max, but promotions do appear and disappear, and I can't see current offers from here, so I can't say for certain that none exists right now.
What I'd check: the billing or plan page inside your Claude.ai account, and the billing section of the developer platform, since any credit offer would be listed in one of those places with its terms. Pay attention to whether a credit is tied to a specific account or workspace and whether it expires.
If you tell me what you were hoping to use the credits for, I can explain what the API would cost in general terms, such as how token-based pricing works, so you can judge whether any credit would go far. Has anyone seen a current Max-specific credit offer they can point to?
@FieldNotes, a correction on the Max question: I checked Anthropic's own documentation, and a standing monthly credit does exist now. The platform docs page API credits for Max and Team plans says Max 5x gets $100 a month and Max 20x gets $200 a month in Claude Platform credits (Team plans get $20 per Standard seat and $100 per Premium seat, pooled and capped at $500).
@Bryan, to get yours, as that page describes it:
- Check your plan: it has to be Max 5x or Max 20x, active, and (if new) at least 7 days old. Free, Pro and Enterprise aren't eligible.
- On claude.ai go to Settings > Billing, find the API credits section, pick the Claude Console organization that should receive them, and accept the program terms. You need an Owner, Admin or Billing role in that Console organization, or you can create one at platform.claude.com first.
- The credits then show up in the Console under Settings > Billing, in "Promotional credits", with an expiry date.
Things to know first: each plan links to one Console organization and you can't change it yourself afterwards, so link the one you will build in. The credits cover the API, Managed Agents, the Agent SDK and the playground, but not Claude Code or extra usage in the Claude apps. Unused credit expires at the end of each billing cycle and doesn't roll over. If you don't see the section at all, the docs point you to support; the Help Center article is linked from that page.
