Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant, available as a free chat app with web search, code execution and memory built in from the start. Paid Pro and Max plans add the Opus and Fable models, deep research and more usage, while the Team plan adds single sign-on. What decides whether it suits you is whether you need those higher-tier models and features, or whether the free plan's toolset is already enough.
What is Claude?
Claude is made by Anthropic, a company headquartered in the United States. It runs in the browser, as a desktop app for Windows and Mac, and as a mobile app for iOS and Android. The app can be set to English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese or Spanish.
What you can do with Claude
Claude's free plan gives access to the Sonnet and Haiku models. Opus and Fable open on the Pro plan and above, and on Pro, Fable is capped at 50% of weekly limits. Only Anthropic's own models are offered inside the app.
Web search is available on every plan, including Free. Deep research opens from Pro up and is not on Free. Claude can read and work with PDF, DOCX, CSV, TXT, HTML, ODT, RTF, EPUB, JSON and XLSX files, and it doesn't generate photos or illustrations, though Claude Design, on every plan, builds graphics, slides and layouts you can export.
Voice mode, code execution and memory across conversations are all included on the free plan. Pro and above add Claude Cowork: you hand off and schedule tasks, and Claude keeps working on longer, multi-step jobs in the background. Projects are capped at up to 5 on the free plan and are uncapped from Pro up.
Claude connects to more than 800 apps through its connectors directory, including Google Drive, Gmail, Microsoft 365, Notion, Figma, Slack, HubSpot, Asana, Linear, the Atlassian tools and Filevine.
Working with other people
The Team plan is built for teams of 2 to 150 people and includes single sign-on, which is not available on Free, Pro or Max. Anthropic also sells API access for developers as a separate product. The app itself runs on the web, on Windows and Mac desktop apps, and on iOS and Android.
Claude pricing: what each plan gives
The Free plan costs nothing and includes web search, file creation, code execution and memory across conversations, plus the Sonnet and Haiku models.
Pro costs $20 a month ($17 a month billed yearly) per user and adds the Opus and Fable models, deep research and Claude Cowork for handing off and scheduling tasks. Max 5x costs $100 a month per user and Max 20x costs $200 a month per user, each with more usage than Pro; Max is billed monthly only, with no annual rate.
Team is sold per seat: a Standard seat costs $25 a month ($20 a month billed yearly), and a Premium seat, which gives 5 times the usage of a Standard seat, costs $125 a month ($100 a month billed yearly).
Privacy and security
On Free, Pro and Max, Anthropic trains its models on your inputs and outputs unless you opt out. Enterprise accounts fall outside that policy, and Enterprise content is not used for training by default. Claude Enterprise comes with SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR and CCPA compliance. Single sign-on is available from the Team plan up.
Support is in writing, by email and through the in-app messenger, backed by a help centre; there is no phone or live chat support.
Who Claude suits
Claude suits people who want to start free and still get web search, code execution, voice and memory, which are all on the free plan. It also suits teams that need single sign-on, since that is covered from the Team plan up.
It suits less well anyone who specifically needs the Opus or Fable models or deep research without paying, since those require a Pro subscription. It also suits less well anyone who wants image generation built into the chat, since Claude doesn't generate photos or illustrations, or anyone uncomfortable with their conversations training the models by default outside of Enterprise accounts.
How Claude compares
Claude scores 7.8 out of 10 among the AI assistants we rate. These three do the same job and are the closest to it, compared on what each vendor publishes.
ChatGPT
Claude gives you voice conversation, memory across chats and projects in full from the free plan up; ChatGPT only unlocks the full versions of those once you move to Go. Claude's cheapest plan is $20 a month while ChatGPT's Go plan is $8 a month, mainly raising usage limits rather than adding new models. ChatGPT can generate images directly in chat and Claude cannot.
Pick ChatGPT if you want image generation and a cheaper paid plan.
Pick Claude if you want full voice, memory and projects from the free plan.
Gemini
Claude gives teams a shared workspace; Gemini has no equivalent, its family sharing only splits storage and plan benefits between up to 5 people rather than a shared AI workspace. Gemini's cheapest paid plan is $4.99 a month but only doubles your usage over the free tier, while Claude's $20 a month plan opens everything at once. Gemini generates images and Claude does not, and Gemini's voice conversation currently works only in its mobile app, not on the web.
Pick Gemini if you want image generation and a cheaper entry price.
Pick Claude if you want a shared team workspace and full access from the start.
Perplexity
Perplexity generates images in chat; Claude does not. Both charge the same $20 a month for their cheapest paid plan, and both include full access from that plan without gating it further. Perplexity's team collaboration only opens up on Enterprise, while Claude includes a team workspace already on its plan.
Pick Perplexity if you want image generation included on the plan.
Pick Claude if you want a team workspace without moving to an enterprise plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Claude cost?
There is a free plan with web search, code execution and memory included. Pro costs $20 a month ($17 a month billed yearly), Max 5x costs $100 a month and Max 20x costs $200 a month, all billed per user; Team seats cost $25 a month ($20 a month billed yearly) for Standard or $125 a month ($100 a month billed yearly) for Premium.
Which models can I use in Claude?
The free plan includes Sonnet and Haiku. Opus and Fable open on the Pro plan and above, and on Pro, Fable is capped at 50% of weekly limits. Only Anthropic's own models are available inside the app.
What does Claude Cowork do?
Claude Cowork, on Pro and up, lets you hand off and schedule tasks. Claude keeps working on longer, multi-step tasks in the background.
Does Claude train on my conversations?
On consumer plans, Anthropic trains its models on your inputs and outputs unless you opt out. Enterprise accounts are excluded from this policy and by default do not have their content used for training.
