Claude is the AI assistant built by Anthropic. It is known for natural, well-structured writing, careful reasoning and strong coding ability, and it can read and work with very long documents, spreadsheets and codebases in a single conversation.
Beyond chat, Claude can build documents, slides, spreadsheets and interactive pages, run deep Research across the web and your connected apps, act in your browser through Claude in Chrome, and write and run code through Claude Code. Paid plans unlock Anthropic’s most capable Opus models and much higher usage.
Key features
- Sonnet, Haiku and Opus models: fast everyday models on Free, with Opus available on paid plans.
- Claude Code for agentic coding in your terminal, IDE and the web, included with Pro and above.
- Research that searches the web and your connected tools and returns a cited report.
- Projects that keep documents, instructions and context together for ongoing work.
- Artifacts and file creation: documents, slides, spreadsheets and small apps you can edit and share.
- Connectors and Claude in Chrome for Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub and browser tasks.
- Memory across conversations, with controls to view and edit what it remembers.
Claude pricing
| Plan | Price | Best for | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Trying it out | Sonnet and Haiku, web search, up to 5 projects |
| Pro | $17/month billed annually ($200/year) or $20 monthly | Most individuals | More usage, Opus, Claude Code, Research, Claude in Chrome |
| Max | From $100/month | Heavy users | 5x or 20x Pro usage and priority access |
| Team | $20/seat/month annual ($25 monthly); Premium seats $100 ($125) | Teams of 2 to 150 | Shared projects, admin controls, Claude Code on Premium seats |
| Enterprise | $20/seat/month plus usage at API rates | Large organizations | 20-seat minimum, SSO, SCIM, audit logs, data controls |
Team plans need at least two seats. Enterprise is billed annually with a $20 per seat platform fee plus model usage at API rates. Developers can also use Claude through the Anthropic API with pay-as-you-go pricing.
Our experience using Claude
Claude produces the most natural first drafts of any chatbot we tested. It follows detailed instructions closely, keeps a consistent tone over long pieces, and is good at saying when it is unsure rather than inventing an answer.
For developers, the combination of chat and Claude Code on one subscription is excellent value. Claude Code can read a whole repository, plan changes, edit files and run tests, which makes it a real alternative to editor-based tools like Cursor. The main frustration is hitting the usage limit on Pro during long sessions, which is exactly what Max is for.
Who should use Claude?
Claude is a great fit for writers, marketers, researchers, lawyers, analysts and developers who care about accuracy and well-structured output. Start on Free, upgrade to Pro once you want Opus, Research or Claude Code, and choose Max only if you regularly run out of Pro usage.
Claude vs alternatives
Claude’s main rival is ChatGPT, which offers more media features such as image generation and a larger plugin ecosystem. Google Gemini is the better choice for heavy Google Workspace users, and Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 teams. For coding specifically, compare Claude Code with GitHub Copilot and Cursor. For real-time X data, Grok is another option.
Browse all AI Chatbots, or see our AI for Writing and AI for Coding categories.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude free?
Yes. The Free plan includes chat with Sonnet and Haiku models, web search and up to five projects.
How much is Claude Pro?
Claude Pro costs $20 per month, or $17 per month when billed annually at $200 per year.
Is Claude Code included in Claude Pro?
Yes. Claude Code is included with Pro, Max, Team Premium seats and Enterprise.
What is Claude Max?
Max starts at $100 per month and gives you 5x or 20x the usage of Pro, plus priority access during busy periods.
Is Claude better than ChatGPT?
Claude is often preferred for writing quality, long documents and coding, while ChatGPT has more built-in media features. Both have free plans, so try them side by side.
