Claude Max users question EU commercial-use terms
A Reddit user reports that Anthropic’s Free, Pro and Max consumer terms for the EEA and Switzerland include a “Non-commercial use only” clause that is absent from the US terms. The user says Anthropic support did not clarify whether a project built with Claude Code on Max could be sold or whether switching to a commercial plan would cover the existing work. Another EU user cited by the poster said upgrading before selling was likely sufficient, but the original poster remained uncertain.
The unresolved interpretation leaves Claude Max and Claude Code users uncertain about the permitted commercial use of work created under those consumer plans.
As you may or may not know, if you’re in the EEA or Switzerland, the consumer terms for Free, Pro and Max have a clause called “Non-commercial use only”. It rules out any commercial or business use. The US terms don’t have this clause, which is probably why it gets so little attention?
I built a project with Claude Code on Max and want to sell it. So I asked support two things: is that allowed, and/or would switching to a commercial plan before I start selling cover the code written under Max? I got two replies:
- First: Anthropic doesn’t claim ownership of outputs, as long as you comply with the consumer terms. Those are the terms that contain the clause.
- Second: They can’t confirm either point and pointed me back to the terms. They couldn’t even tell me whether to keep using Max for the project or rather cancel and switch, and just pointed me back to the terms.
Two support replies, and I still don’t know whether I’m allowed to sell the work.
Meanwhile, another EU user posted a support reply here saying that upgrading before you start selling is likely enough: https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1xanpeo/comment/19rgku8lgoox1/
I’d switch to Team if necessary, but it’s all super unclear. And honestly: who pays up to €200 a month for Max purely as a hobby?
The EU users I know either ignore it, cancel, or move to Team. But Team has no seat that matches Max 20x: a Premium seat is cheaper and gives much less usage. So the clause mostly pushes people to pay Anthropic less, which is hardly what they intend.
Plenty of EU users know about this, yet there’s barely any pushback. If it affects you too, please speak up. And if anyone has gotten a clear answer from Anthropic, please share it.
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