Claude

Claude is an AI assistant made by Anthropic PBC. It works as a chat assistant on the web, on desktop (macOS and Windows) and on iOS and Android, and the same models are offered to developers through the Claude API. Beyond answering questions, it can research a topic, write and edit documents, analyse files and produce editable Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

The problem it addresses is everyday knowledge work and software work that takes many small steps: drafting, summarising, reconciling data, writing code and pulling information from several sources into one organised result. Paid plans add Claude Code, Anthropic's coding agent, so the same subscription covers writing and development work.

Key features

• Projects and memory. Projects keep files and instructions together for a piece of work, and memory lets Claude carry context between conversations.
• Artifacts and file creation. Claude can build shareable pages, documents and designs, and create or edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.
• Research and web search. Web search is included on the free plan, and Claude can gather information from several sources into a structured answer.
• Claude Code. Included from the Pro plan, Claude Code is a coding agent that reads a codebase, edits files and runs commands with your approval.
• Connectors. Connectors link Claude to external apps and data sources, so it can work with information that lives outside the chat.
• Extensions and integrations. Claude in Chrome, Microsoft 365 apps and Slack are listed as places where Claude can be used.
• Developer API. The Claude API offers the model family (Opus, Sonnet and Haiku) with batch processing and prompt caching to reduce cost.

Who it is for

Individuals can start on the free plan for writing, research and analysis. Developers and technical founders tend to choose Pro or Max because they include Claude Code and Opus access. Small and growing teams use the Team plan for central billing, single sign-on and admin controls, while larger organisations use Enterprise for SCIM, audit logs, role-based access and custom data retention. Product teams that want to build Claude into their own software use the API directly.

Pricing at a glance

Free costs $0 and includes chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation, code execution, memory and artifacts, with the Sonnet and Haiku models. Pro costs $20 per month, or $17 per month billed annually ($200 a year), and adds Claude Code, Projects, Opus access and more usage. Max starts at $100 per month, with tiers offering 5x or 20x the usage of Pro and priority access at busy times. Team has a Standard seat at $20 per seat per month billed annually ($25 monthly) and a Premium seat at $100 per seat per month billed annually ($125 monthly) with 5x more usage. Enterprise is $20 per seat per month plus usage at API rates, billed annually. On the API, Opus 5.5 is $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens, Sonnet 5.5 is $2 and $10, and Haiku 4.5 is $1 and $5. Prices as checked on 7 October 2026; confirm on the vendor's pricing page.

Things to consider

• Usage on Free, Pro and Max is limited per session rather than unlimited; heavy coding work can reach the limits, which is why the Max tiers exist.
• Claude Code and Opus access are not part of the free plan.
• Under consumer terms announced in August 2025, chats on Free, Pro and Max can be used to train new models when the training setting is on, with retention extended to five years in that case; you can change the setting at any time. Team, Enterprise and API use are covered by commercial terms instead.
• Admin features such as SCIM, audit logs and custom data retention are reserved for Enterprise.

Getting started

1. Create a free account at claude.com and try it on a real task from your week.
2. Review the privacy settings and decide whether your chats may be used for model training.
3. Compare usage needs on the pricing page and upgrade to Pro if you need Claude Code or Projects.
4. For a team, start a Team plan, set up single sign-on and invite colleagues.