Description: Claude's 50% artifact usage promotion ended October 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. See when Free joined, which Pro/Max/Team accounts qualified, why weekly limits were unaffected, and what happens to five-hour usage now.
Yes. The limited-time discount ended on October 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. During the offer, eligible work after creating or editing an artifact consumed 50% less of Claude's five-hour session allowance. As of October 17, the feature still works, but the promotional usage accounting has expired.
Which plans were eligible, and when?
| Plan | Promotional window (Pacific Time) | After the deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Oct 7, 10 a.m. – Oct 15, 11:59 p.m. | Standard usage accounting |
| Pro | Oct 1, 11 a.m. – Oct 15, 11:59 p.m. | Standard accounting |
| Max 5x / 20x | Oct 1, 11 a.m. – Oct 15, 11:59 p.m. | Standard accounting |
| Team | Oct 1, 11 a.m. – Oct 15, 11:59 p.m. | Standard accounting |
| Enterprise | Never eligible | No promotion-related change |
The key update was October 7, when Anthropic added Free accounts. Some older translations still describe Free as excluded. For this dated change, the updated English terms are the stronger source; don't mistake an outdated localized help page for a new restriction.
Did creating an artifact give you ten free messages?
Not quite. In an ordinary Claude chat, after Claude created or edited an artifact, the next ten messages in that chat used 50% less of the five-hour allowance. Only the first 15 processing steps of each reply could receive the discount. If the artifact was first created midway through a conversation, the creation message counted normally; the discount started with the next message. Starting a new chat from Output → Document, Presentation or Design could make the first message eligible.
Think of it as a discount on measured session consumption, not a coupon for ten messages or half-price subscriptions. Weekly usage limits were never discounted, and purchased usage credits were charged at normal rates.
What about Cowork, Claude Code and the API?
For cloud-based Claude Cowork, a task launched from a Document, Presentation or Design output could receive roughly 45 minutes of discounted work. In another cloud task, creating or editing an artifact could discount up to the following 80 steps. Local Cowork tasks, scheduled or unattended tasks, Claude Code, the API, Claude in Slack, standalone Claude Design and certain Google Drive-created files were excluded. A document produced by Claude Code did not make terminal usage half-price.
Does the five-hour limit still reset?
Yes. Paid Claude plans still have a session allowance that resets every five hours and separate weekly allowances. The weekly reset day and time are assigned to the account and can be checked in Settings → Usage. The promotion changed how much eligible work counted toward the session allowance, not the reset schedule. Conversation length, model choice and tools also affect consumption, so a universal “messages remaining” figure would be misleading.
Bottom line
If your usage meter seems to drain faster after October 15, the expired promotion is one plausible explanation. Artifacts remain available; only the temporary discount is gone. The document is still there. The half-price meter has left the building.
Official sources, checked October 17, 2026: Anthropic promotion terms; usage and length limits; older Indonesian translation, used to illustrate update lag. Country-by-country search volume has not been measured; the reader question is an editorial hypothesis.
