Claude for Open Source: free Claude Max for maintainers

Claude for Open Source is an Anthropic programme that gives approved open source maintainers and contributors a free six month Claude Max 20x subscription.

To qualify, applicants need to meet at least one criterion. Examples are maintaining a library with 500+ dependent repos, 100+ dependent packages or 200,000+ combined monthly downloads, or being a listed committer or maintainer on a recognised foundation or language project such as CPython, Rust, Kubernetes, the Linux kernel, Django or Rails. Other routes are 100+ merged PRs into repos you do not own in the last 12 months, a repo with 20+ unique outside contributors in the last 12 months, or a maintained repo with an OpenSSF criticality score of 0.4 or above. Anthropic adds: "If you maintain something the ecosystem quietly depends on, apply anyway and tell us about it."

The terms say the applicant must be a natural person aged 18 or older, with a GitHub account at least two years old and public open source activity in the 90 days before applying.

Applications go through the form on the Claude website. The terms say the application period remains open until Anthropic closes it, and applications still pending at that point may not be considered.

On 8 October 2026 Anthropic launched a free opt in vulnerability finding service for open source projects. The announcement points maintainers to Claude for Open Source as the way to get a subscription for fixing the reported bugs.

Quick answers

How many people can get the subscription?

The terms cap the programme at 10,000 approved recipients unless Anthropic raises it. Each person can receive only one programme subscription.

What happens after the six months?

Anthropic emails recipients before the free period ends. A previous paid plan then resumes at its old rate unless cancelled; otherwise the account returns to the free plan.

Does meeting a criterion guarantee approval?

No. Meeting the criteria does not guarantee acceptance.