As the year draws to a close and development cycles intensify, two of the world’s leading AI companies—OpenAI and Anthropic—have rolled out a timely boost for developers. Both firms have announced temporary increases to usage limits on their AI-powered coding tools, offering much-needed breathing room during the busy holiday period.

The move is aimed squarely at developers and power users who frequently hit rate limits while working on complex or time-sensitive projects. By doubling usage caps for a limited time, OpenAI and Anthropic are acknowledging the growing reliance on AI tools for modern software development—and the pressure developers face when limits slow progress.

OpenAI has confirmed that it has reset and doubled the standard rate limits for Codex, its AI-driven coding agent. These enhanced limits will remain active until 1 January 2026. The update was shared on X by Thibault Sottiaux, a Member of Technical Staff at OpenAI, who framed the decision as a holiday thank-you following months of strong adoption and user feedback.

Codex plays a central role in OpenAI’s developer ecosystem. Designed to support end-to-end software development, the tool can generate, understand, and modify code using both text prompts and images. Developers can access Codex through several channels, including the command line, ChatGPT, and popular development environments such as Visual Studio Code and Cursor. With the temporary limit increase, users can run longer sessions, make more requests, and experiment more freely during the holidays.

Anthropic has launched a similar year-end promotion for its Claude AI platform. From 25 December through 31 December, individual subscribers on Claude Pro and Max plans are receiving double their usual usage limits. The increase applies across mobile, desktop, and web versions of the service, ensuring consistent access regardless of platform.

Anthropic has clarified that the promotion is limited to individual subscribers. Team and Enterprise plans are excluded from the offer. Both existing users and those who sign up during the promotional window are eligible for the increased limits. Once the offer ends, all accounts will automatically revert to their standard usage allowances based on subscription tier.

These parallel announcements reflect a broader trend in the AI industry. As demand continues to surge, providers are carefully balancing infrastructure capacity with usage caps, rate limits, and metering systems. Many of these controls operate on rolling time windows or weekly thresholds, which can be especially restrictive during high-intensity work periods.

By temporarily relaxing these constraints, OpenAI and Anthropic are sending a clear message to developers: they recognize the real-world demands of building with AI. The holiday boost not only helps users stay productive but also strengthens goodwill among the very communities driving AI adoption forward.