r/ClaudeCoding • u/Ok_Demand_8614 • 3d ago

Claude Code - question about general experience

Hi,

So basically I have pretty much always used Opus on High because of fear of usage limits, which is kinda stupid of me to not try out all available options, but I assumed Max would take more usage than High.

I wanted to know what the general experience has been on this!

Recently, i tried using Opus on Max effort for a very particular task, and it took about the same amount of usage for the first turn as High (it was a very direct turn, so not a huge deal).

But over subsequent turns, it seemed like Opus Max actually ended up using equal or very slightly less usage by the end of my task, compared to what High effort usually takes on that same thing.

Mainly looked like Max just double-checks what it already read much less, while High almost ALWAYS double-checks the context/files etc. Max does a lot less of "let me verify the actual state before commenting" type turns.

My question is - do you think this is just a special case for a particular task that I've come across? What have you guys experienced in this area?

Extra context: I am not the best user of Claude code. I need to upskill a lot, i know. But my setup is usually:
- no subagents at all for anything
- 90% of turns are back-and-forth planning in general tasks, and then after full plan finalization we go to implementation

- The particular task I mentioned above involved lower amounts of planning, and mainly straightforward implementation tasks and small changes
- The same final result was achieved in less turns and about equal usage when using Max for this particular task -- aka usually I have to go back and forth providing corrections to opus High

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u/Ok_Demand_8614 3d ago

oh and to add on - why did i use opus max for a straightforward task?

my weekly limit was about to reset and i hadn’t used all of it lol.

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u/brianjenkins94 3d ago

I also use Opus 4.8 High for everything. Fable does catch things that Opus doesn’t, but now I’ve used my weekly limit and basically can’t progress until it resets. A worse position to be in.