[BUG] [Billing] Subscription stuck in broken state after card expiry - unable to re-subscribe or update payment method

[BestSolutionNo]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

My Claude Max plan subscription lapsed because my credit card had insufficient funds.
The plan was downgraded to Free. When I tried to upgrade again with a new card,
I received an error saying I already have an "active subscription" — even though
I am on the Free tier. The system will not let me add a new card or re-subscribe.

Additionally, the Billing page on claude.ai does NOT show any link to the Stripe
Customer Portal, which would normally allow me to update my payment method.
The account is stuck in a broken intermediate state between Free and paid.

What Should Happen?

After a failed payment and plan downgrade, the user should be able to:

1. Add a new payment method via the Stripe Customer Portal (link should be visible on billing page)
2. Re-subscribe to the Max plan without receiving a false "active subscription" error

Error Messages/Logs

when I choose upgrade (only option) in settings/billing, and fill out card information, I got error: "You have a active subscription", my plan is now Free and no button for ReSubscribe. Only Upgrade, that is not working.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Have an active Claude Max subscription
2. Card on file fails due to insufficient funds
3. Account is downgraded to Free plan
4. Navigate to claude.ai/settings/billing
5. Note: No Stripe Customer Portal link is visible
6. Click "Upgrade" to re-subscribe with a new card
7. Receive error: "You already have an active subscription"
8. There is no option to update payment method or re-subscribe

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

N/A - This is a claude.ai web billing issue, not a Claude Code issue. Reporting here as it appears to be the most monitored Anthropic GitHub repository.

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

• I contacted Anthropic Support and received an automated response after several
  weeks that did not address the issue (screenshot attached)
• The support ticket was effectively closed with a note saying further replies
  may not be monitored
• I posted on Twitter/X @AnthropicAI with no response
• This appears to be a Stripe subscription state issue where the subscription
  object still exists in Stripe but is in a failed/canceled state, while
  claude.ai incorrectly treats it as "active"
• Screenshot of billing page showing missing Stripe portal link is attached

[BestSolutionNo]

I understand this isn't strictly a Claude Code bug, but I'm reporting it here
because it's the only active Anthropic GitHub repository with human monitoring.
The official support channel only provides automated responses.
I need a human from the billing team to manually reset my Stripe subscription state.

[0xbrainkid]

This is a classic subscription-state desynchronization bug: billing logic still considers the user to have an active subscription record, while product entitlements and UI state have already downgraded them to Free.

That creates the worst possible billing UX because every recovery path is blocked at once:

• entitlement says Free
• upgrade flow says already active
• billing page does not expose the Stripe portal to update payment method

So the user is trapped in an impossible state between paid and free.

The likely underlying model is:

1. failed renewal marks the plan as delinquent/past_due in billing
2. product access is downgraded to Free
3. a separate subscription record remains active-ish enough to block re-subscribe
4. billing UI keys off the wrong state, so the portal link disappears

The recovery invariant should be: after failed payment, users must always have at least one self-serve recovery path, either

• update payment method in the customer portal, or
• explicitly re-subscribe after the old subscription is canceled/expired

Never neither.

This is especially important for trust: users are much more forgiving of payment failures than of a system that appears to both charge them as active and treat them as free while preventing recovery.

Fix direction:

• unify entitlement state and billing subscription state
• expose the Stripe customer portal whenever there is any recoverable subscription record
• if the user is downgraded to Free, Upgrade should not be blocked by a stale "active subscription" flag

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.