Claude

Claude is Anthropic’s flagship AI assistant and the product that established the company as a genuine third force in frontier AI alongside OpenAI and Google. First released in March 2023, Claude has evolved from a safety-focused chatbot into the leading AI for software development, with Claude Opus 4.5 achieving 80.9% on SWE-bench Verified—the highest score of any model. As of December 2025, Claude commands 32% of enterprise AI deployments while Anthropic’s valuation has soared to $350 billion.

The platform now runs on the Claude 4.5 model family (released September-November 2025), offering everything from casual conversation to agentic coding, extended thinking, and computer use. Whether you’re a casual user on the free tier or a power user paying $200/month for Max, this guide covers everything you need to know.

Quick stats

Pricing breakdown

Claude offers five tiers, each targeting different use cases and budgets. All prices are in USD.

Free — $0

The free tier provides genuine utility for light users. You get:

• Claude Sonnet 4 — Default model for free users, frontier-class performance
• Claude Haiku 4.5 — Fast, efficient model for quick tasks
• ~30-40 messages per 5-hour window — Resets every 5 hours
• Web search — Search the internet for current information
• File uploads — Up to 20 files per chat, 30MB per file
• Image analysis — Vision capabilities for uploaded images
• Basic Artifacts — Code previews and document generation
• Voice mode — ~20-30 voice messages per session
• 5 Projects — Workspaces with persistent context

Limitations: No Opus 4.5 access, no Memory, no Claude Code, no Google Workspace connectors, stricter rate limits than paid tiers.

Worth it for: Casual users, students, anyone wanting to try Claude before subscribing, light research tasks.

Pro — $20/month

The core subscription for regular users. Everything in Free, plus:

• All Claude models including Opus 4.5 — Access to the most capable model
• 5x more usage than Free — ~45 messages per 5-hour window
• Unlimited Projects — Create as many workspaces as needed
• Extended thinking — Visible reasoning with customisable thinking budgets
• Claude Code — Agentic coding in terminal and IDE
• Research feature — Deep research capabilities
• Google Workspace connectors — Gmail, Drive, Calendar integration via MCP
• Priority during high traffic

Worth it for: Developers, writers, researchers, professionals who need consistent access to frontier AI capabilities. The Claude Code access alone justifies the cost for many developers.

Subscribe to Pro →

Max 5x — $100/month

For power users who hit Pro limits regularly. Everything in Pro, plus:

• 5x Pro usage — ~225 messages per 5-hour window
• Memory across conversations — Claude remembers preferences and context
• Claude for Chrome — Browser extension for web interaction
• Early access to new features
• Higher priority than Pro

Worth it for: Heavy daily users, developers using Claude Code intensively, professionals who can’t afford to hit rate limits during work.

Introduced April 2025 →

Max 20x — $200/month

For the most demanding users. Everything in Max 5x, plus:

• 20x Pro usage — ~900 messages per 5-hour window
• Near-unlimited Opus 4.5 access — Practical limits rarely reached
• Highest priority access — Never wait during peak times

Worth it for: Professional developers, researchers, consultants who use Claude as their primary work tool for several hours daily. Comparable to ChatGPT Pro at the same price point.

Team — $30/user/month

Designed for organisations (minimum 5 seats):

• All Pro features
• SSO and admin controls — Centralised user management
• Shared workspaces — Collaborate on Projects across team members
• Microsoft 365 and Slack integrations
• Data never used for training — Explicit exclusion policy
• Premium Team seats available — $150/user/month includes Claude Code

Learn more about Team →

Enterprise — Custom pricing

For large organisations requiring maximum security and customisation:

• 500K+ token context windows — Handle massive documents
• SCIM provisioning — Automated user management
• Audit logs — 180 days of activity tracking
• Role-based access controls
• Custom data retention policies
• VPC isolation options — Via AWS Bedrock or Google Vertex AI
• Dedicated support and onboarding

Notable enterprise customers include Salesforce, Netflix, Snowflake ($200M partnership), Novo Nordisk, Cognizant (350,000 employees), and Palo Alto Networks.

Contact sales →

Models powering Claude

Claude’s model architecture reached a new peak with the 4.5 family in late 2025. Here’s what’s currently available:

Claude Opus 4.5 (November 2025)

The flagship model, described as “the best model in the world for coding, agents, and computer use.” Key capabilities:

• 80.9% on SWE-bench Verified — Highest score of any model, surpassing GPT-5.1-Codex-Max (77.9%)
• 200K token context window — Process entire codebases or lengthy documents
• 64K max output tokens — Extended generation for complex tasks
• Knowledge cutoff: May 2025

Pricing dropped significantly from Opus 4: $5/million input tokens, $25/million output tokens (vs $15/$75 previously).

Available to: Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise users.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 (September 2025)

The workhorse model optimised for the best balance of capability and cost:

• 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified — 82% in high-compute mode
• 61.4% on OSWorld — Leading all models for computer use
• Maintains focus for 30+ hours on complex tasks
• 1M token context in beta — Extended context for massive documents

Pricing: $3/million input tokens, $15/million output tokens.

Available to: All tiers including free.

Claude Haiku 4.5 (October 2025)

The speed-optimised model delivering near-frontier performance:

• 73.3% on SWE-bench Verified — Matches Sonnet 4’s capabilities
• First Haiku with extended thinking and computer use
• 2x+ faster than Sonnet with one-third the cost
• 200K token context window

Pricing: $1/million input tokens, $5/million output tokens.

Available to: All tiers including free.

Legacy models

• Claude Opus 4 (May 2025) — 72.5% SWE-bench, still available for Pro+ users
• Claude Sonnet 4 (May 2025) — 72.7% SWE-bench, default for free users
• Claude 3.5 Sonnet — Available via API for backward compatibility

Features deep dive

Web search

Web search launched for paid US users in March 2025 and expanded globally in May 2025. Powered by Brave Search, it provides:

• Automatic triggering — Claude determines when current information is needed
• Clickable citations — Source links for verification
• Real-time information — News, stock prices, current events

Unlike ChatGPT’s always-on approach, Claude’s web search is selective—it searches only when beneficial rather than for every query. Available on all tiers including free.

Research feature

The Research feature operates as Claude’s deep research capability, autonomously exploring multiple sources to compile comprehensive reports. Similar to ChatGPT’s Deep Research but with Claude’s characteristic thoroughness and citation style.

Extended thinking

Extended thinking launched February 2025 with Claude 3.7 Sonnet, allowing users to see Claude’s reasoning process:

• Visible thought process — Watch Claude work through complex problems
• Customisable thinking budgets — Up to 64,000+ tokens for deep reasoning
• Improved accuracy — Particularly for math, coding, and analysis

Available to Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise users.

Claude Code

Claude Code is Anthropic’s agentic coding tool, launched in preview February 2025 and generally available May 2025:

• Terminal-based operation — Lives in your command line
• Full codebase understanding — Reads and edits entire projects
• Git integration — Creates commits, handles workflows
• IDE extensions — VS Code and JetBrains support
• Extended thinking mode — Deep reasoning for complex tasks

Claude Code now generates over $500 million in annual run-rate revenue, growing 10x in just 3 months. It’s become the default AI coding tool for many professional developers.

Available to: Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise users.

Voice mode

Voice mode launched May 27, 2025 on iOS and Android:

• 5 voice options — Using ElevenLabs text-to-speech technology
• Seamless switching — Move between voice and text while maintaining context
• Full Claude capabilities — Web search, file analysis during voice conversations

Important distinction: Unlike ChatGPT’s real-time voice (which processes speech natively), Claude uses text-to-speech—Claude cannot hear or speak with human-like naturalness. Voice input transcribes to text, Claude responds in text, then text converts to speech.

Available to: All tiers. Free users get ~20-30 voice messages per session.

Artifacts

Artifacts launched June 2024, creating a dedicated side panel for substantial content:

What Artifacts can display:

• Code with syntax highlighting
• Documents (markdown, HTML)
• Interactive React components
• Mermaid diagrams
• SVG graphics

Key capabilities:

• Version history — Track changes across iterations
• Public publishing — Share artifacts with shareable links
• Remix capability — Others can modify shared artifacts
• Export options — Download as files

Artifacts represent a genuine differentiator—ChatGPT’s Canvas is similar but less mature.

Projects

Projects launched June 2024, providing self-contained workspaces:

• Persistent knowledge bases — Upload files that remain available across all chats
• Custom instructions — Project-specific system prompts
• 200K token context windows — Large document processing
• Collaboration — Team/Enterprise users can share Projects with permission levels

Limits:

• Free: 5 Projects
• Pro/Max: Unlimited Projects
• Team/Enterprise: Unlimited with collaboration features

Memory

Memory rolled out August-October 2025, allowing Claude to remember information across conversations:

• Automatic learning — Claude identifies important details to remember
• Project-scoped — Memory stays within specific Projects for separation
• Import capability — Bring memory from ChatGPT or Gemini
• User control — View, edit, and delete memories

Important: Memory is only available on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans—not free tier.

MCP and connectors

Model Context Protocol (MCP) launched November 2024 as Anthropic’s open standard for connecting Claude to external tools:

Official integrations:

• Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Calendar)
• GitHub
• Slack
• Notion
• Asana
• Figma
• Jira
• And many more via community servers

MCP has gained industry adoption—OpenAI announced support, Microsoft integrated it into developer tools. This positions Claude as a hub for enterprise workflows.

Claude for Chrome

The browser extension enables Claude to interact with websites:

• Read and navigate websites — Understand page content
• Multi-tab workflows — Work across browser tabs
• Scheduled tasks — Automate recurring browser activities

Important: Only available on Max plans ($100-200/month).

Computer use

Computer use allows Claude to control desktop applications:

• Screen reading — Understand what’s on screen
• Mouse and keyboard control — Interact with applications
• 61.4% on OSWorld — Sonnet 4.5 leads all models

Currently available via API and Claude Code, with broader consumer rollout expected.

File uploads and handling

Claude supports extensive file upload capabilities:

Supported formats: PDF, DOCX, XLSX, CSV, TXT, HTML, PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, code files

Limits:

• Up to 30MB per file
• Up to 20 files per chat
• Text content processed within 200K token context

Strengths

Coding excellence — Claude leads all benchmarks. Opus 4.5’s 80.9% SWE-bench score exceeds GPT-5.1-Codex-Max (77.9%). Claude powers Cursor IDE as the default model and commands 42% of enterprise coding workloads.

Writing quality — Users consistently praise Claude’s natural, less robotic writing style. Better at avoiding marketing jargon and template responses than ChatGPT. Particularly strong for long-form content, analysis, and nuanced communication.

Context window — The 200K token standard (1M beta for Sonnet 4.5) enables processing entire books, lengthy legal contracts, and massive codebases—significantly larger than ChatGPT’s 128K standard.

Enterprise adoption — 32% of enterprise AI deployments use Claude, surpassing OpenAI’s 25%. Notable customers include Salesforce, Netflix, Snowflake, Cognizant, and Palo Alto Networks.

Constitutional AI — Anthropic’s safety approach creates more predictable ethical guardrails, valued by regulated industries for compliance. Claude refuses harmful requests more consistently than competitors.

Artifacts — Real-time code visualisation and interactive components remain more capable than ChatGPT’s Canvas equivalent.

Extended thinking — Visible reasoning with customisable budgets provides transparency other assistants lack.

Limitations

No image generation — Claude cannot create images. No DALL-E, no Imagen, no Midjourney equivalent. If you need image generation, ChatGPT or Gemini are better choices.

No video generation — Unlike Gemini (Veo) or ChatGPT (Sora), Claude has no video creation capabilities.

Text-to-speech only — Voice mode uses ElevenLabs text-to-speech rather than native multimodal processing. Claude cannot hear or speak with ChatGPT’s naturalness.

Rate limiting frustration — The primary user complaint. Even Pro users report hitting limits “in 30 minutes” during intensive work. August 2025 changes added weekly caps, causing significant backlash.

No usage dashboard — Unlike ChatGPT, Claude provides no visibility into remaining quota at any price tier. Users can’t see how close they are to limits.

Consumer market share — Despite technical excellence, Claude holds only 3.8% consumer market share versus ChatGPT’s 61%. Brand recognition remains a challenge.

Browser extension restricted — Claude for Chrome requires Max subscription ($100-200/month), while ChatGPT’s web browsing works on all tiers.

No persistent memory on free tier — Memory requires paid subscription, while ChatGPT offers memory to free users.

Who should use Claude?

Great for:

• Software developers — Claude leads coding benchmarks, and Claude Code is genuinely transformative for professional workflows
• Writers and content creators — Superior writing quality with natural, nuanced output
• Researchers — 200K+ context windows enable processing entire papers, books, and document collections
• Enterprises — 32% market share reflects genuine value for regulated industries needing predictable AI behaviour
• Long document work — Legal contracts, academic papers, code reviews benefit from extended context
• Anyone frustrated with ChatGPT’s style — Claude’s writing is consistently praised as more human

Look elsewhere if:

• You need image generation — ChatGPT (DALL-E) or Gemini (Imagen) are necessary
• Heavy casual chatting — Rate limits make Claude frustrating for extended conversations; ChatGPT’s free tier is more generous
• Voice-first interaction — ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode is significantly more natural
• Budget is extremely tight — ChatGPT’s free tier allows more usage despite similar capabilities
• You want all-in-one multimedia — ChatGPT offers text, images, voice, and video in one interface

Historical timeline

Privacy and data handling

Understanding how Anthropic handles your data is crucial—particularly after the August 2025 privacy policy changes.

Training data policy

Important change: As of August 2025, consumer plans (Free, Pro, Max) default to ON for training data usage. This was criticised as a “dark pattern” since the toggle is pre-enabled.

To opt out: Settings → Privacy → Toggle “Help improve Claude” OFF. This only protects future conversations—data already submitted cannot be removed from training.

Incognito mode

Incognito mode provides privacy protection:

• Conversations aren’t saved to your history
• Not used for model training regardless of settings
• Available to all users via the ghost icon

Data retention

Security certifications

Anthropic holds:

• SOC 2 Type II — Security, availability, processing integrity
• ISO 27001:2022 — Information security management
• ISO/IEC 42001:2023 — AI Management Systems (first major AI company to achieve)

GDPR and international compliance

Anthropic maintains GDPR alignment with:

• Data Processing Agreements available
• Standard Contractual Clauses for EU data transfers
• Data subject rights (access, deletion, rectification)

Enterprise features

• SSO — SAML-based single sign-on
• SCIM provisioning — Automated user management
• Audit logs — 180 days of activity tracking
• Custom data retention — Configurable policies
• VPC isolation — Available via AWS Bedrock or Google Vertex AI
• HIPAA — Configurable with Business Associate Agreement

Visit Anthropic’s Trust Center for compliance documentation.

Claude vs alternatives

Quick comparison

Where Claude wins

• Coding excellence — 80.9% SWE-bench versus GPT-5.1’s 76.3%; powers Cursor as default
• Writing quality — Consistently praised as more natural than ChatGPT
• Context window — 200K standard (1M beta) versus ChatGPT’s 128K
• Enterprise adoption — 32% market share, trusted by regulated industries
• Artifacts — More mature than ChatGPT’s Canvas for code visualisation

Where competitors win

• ChatGPT — Image/video generation, real-time voice, persistent memory on free tier, 3M+ Custom GPTs, larger ecosystem
• Gemini — Larger context (1M+ tokens), native Google integration, video generation (Veo), aggressive API pricing

Getting started

Web

1. Go to claude.ai
2. Sign up with email or Google account
3. Start chatting—no setup required

Mobile

• iOS: Download from App Store (requires iOS 17.0+)
• Android: Download from Google Play (requires Android 8.0+)

Desktop

Download from claude.ai/download:

• macOS: Apple Silicon and Intel supported
• Windows: Windows 10 or 11
• Note: No Linux version available

Tips for new users

Use Projects for organised work: Create separate Projects for different tasks—each maintains its own context and can have custom instructions.

Upload reference documents: Claude’s 200K context excels at processing entire documents. Upload style guides, technical specs, or research papers for better outputs.

Try extended thinking for complex tasks: Enable extended thinking when tackling difficult coding problems or analysis. Watch Claude’s reasoning to understand its approach.

Explore Artifacts: Ask Claude to create interactive visualisations, code previews, or documents. Artifacts make reviewing and iterating faster.

Set up MCP connectors: If you use Google Workspace, GitHub, or Slack, connect them via Settings to let Claude access your data directly.

FAQs

Is Claude free?

Yes. The free tier includes Claude Sonnet 4 and Haiku 4.5, web search, file uploads, voice mode, and 5 Projects. Rate limits are stricter than paid tiers (~30-40 messages per 5-hour window).

Is Claude Pro worth $20/month?

If you need Opus 4.5 access, Claude Code, or hit free tier limits regularly—yes. Developers particularly benefit from Claude Code, which is unavailable on free tier.

What about the $200 Max tier?

Only for power users who hit Pro limits daily. The 20x usage multiplier provides near-unlimited access for professionals who use Claude as their primary work tool.

Can Claude access the internet?

Yes. Web search is available on all tiers, powered by Brave Search. Claude searches when current information would improve responses.

Is my data private?

Consumer plans (Free, Pro, Max) default to allowing training data usage as of August 2025. Opt out in Settings → Privacy. Team and Enterprise conversations are never used for training.

Can Claude generate images?

No. Claude has no image generation capability. Use ChatGPT (DALL-E), Gemini (Imagen), or Midjourney for image creation.

Does Claude remember previous conversations?

Only on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans. Memory feature allows Claude to remember preferences and context across sessions. Free users must provide context each conversation.

What file types can I upload?

PDF, DOCX, XLSX, CSV, TXT, HTML, PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, and various code files. Up to 30MB per file, 20 files per chat.

How does Claude compare to ChatGPT for coding?

Claude leads. Opus 4.5 achieves 80.9% on SWE-bench Verified versus GPT-5.1’s 76.3%. Claude Code powers professional developer workflows, and Claude commands 42% of enterprise coding market share.

Verdict

Claude has established itself as the AI assistant for serious work. The Claude 4.5 model family’s 80.9% SWE-bench score represents genuine state-of-the-art coding capability—and it’s not close. For developers, writers, researchers, and enterprises needing reliable, high-quality AI, Claude delivers.

Free tier: Useful for light usage and evaluation. Claude Sonnet 4 provides frontier-class capability, but strict rate limits make it unsuitable for regular work.

Pro ($20/month): The sweet spot for most professional users. Opus 4.5 access, Claude Code, extended thinking, and Projects make this competitive with ChatGPT Plus despite lacking image generation.

Max ($100-200/month): Only for users who hit Pro limits consistently. If Claude is your primary work tool for hours daily, the usage multipliers justify the cost.

Claude isn’t the best at everything—ChatGPT offers broader multimedia capabilities, more generous free tier limits, and persistent memory at all levels. Gemini provides larger context windows. But for pure capability on coding, writing, and analysis tasks, Claude leads the market. The 32% enterprise market share versus OpenAI’s 25% tells the story: organisations that evaluate AI tools carefully are choosing Claude.

For most users wanting a capable, thoughtful AI assistant focused on quality work rather than entertainment features, Claude is the best choice available.

Official links