Anthropic is opening applications for its Claude for Open Source Program, a new effort that offers 6 months of free Claude Max 20x to qualifying open-source maintainers and contributors. The program frames the subscription as a way to support the people who keep widely used libraries and tooling moving—especially the steady, unglamorous work of reviewing PRs, cutting releases, and handling issues.
What the program includes
Approved applicants receive Claude Max 20x at no cost for a 6-month subscription period. Anthropic says that if an application is approved, the contributor gets a link to activate Claude Max on the associated account for the duration of that period.
How applications are processed
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and the program is capped at up to 10,000 contributors. That cap is notable: it signals this is meant to be a sizable cohort, but still a bounded program rather than an open-ended discount.
Eligibility: who should apply
Anthropic’s published criteria centers on maintainers with demonstrated responsibility for popular projects:
- Maintainers / core team members of a public repo with 5,000+ GitHub stars or 1M+ monthly NPM downloads
- Evidence of active participation—commits, releases, or PR reviews within the last 3 months
There’s also an explicit “apply anyway” lane. Maintainers of projects that are “quietly depended on” but may not hit star or download thresholds are encouraged to apply and explain their impact.
Terms and details
Anthropic points applicants to the program’s Terms and Conditions for the full set of eligibility and subscription details.
