Anthropic · AI assistant
Claude
Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant, first released in March 2023, used for writing, analysis, research and coding in its web, desktop and mobile apps and through Anthropic's API.
- Made by
- Anthropic
- Type
- AI assistant
- Launched
- March 2023
Facts checked
What is Claude?
Claude is built for long, document-heavy work: it can read large files, analyse data, write and edit code and run longer multi-step tasks. Claude Code brings the same models to software development in the terminal and IDE.
Anthropic's current models are Claude Fable 5.1 (September 2026), Claude Opus 5.5 (September 22, 2026), Claude Sonnet 5.5 (September 28, 2026) and Claude Haiku 5.5 (October 7, 2026). The free plan uses Sonnet and Haiku; paid plans add Opus and Fable, which is included on Max and Ultra and billed by usage credits on Pro.
Claude Pro costs $20 a month ($17 a month billed annually), Max $100 a month and Ultra $200 a month. Team and Enterprise plans add administration, security controls and shared usage for organisations.
Claude key facts
| Developer | Anthropic |
|---|---|
| Type | AI assistant |
| First released | March 14, 2023 |
| Current models | Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Claude Haiku 5.5 |
| Platforms | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, API |
| Free tier | Yes (Sonnet and Haiku models) |
| Paid plans | Pro ($20/month), Max ($100/month), Ultra ($200/month), Team, Enterprise |
| Coding tool | Claude Code (included with Pro and above) |
Claude compared
Latest Claude news
AI Assistants
Claude Haiku 5.5: Anthropic's cheapest, fastest small model, its price, benchmarks and what else changed
Claude Haiku 5.5 costs $0.10 and $0.50 per million tokens for prompts up to 100K, about 75% less than Haiku 4.5. See benchmarks and the Sonnet 5.5 price cut.
AI Assistants
Claude Sonnet 5.5: what's new, what it costs and how it compares with Opus 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5 keeps Sonnet 5's $2 and $10 price, runs over 30% faster and costs up to 30% less per task. See benchmarks, specs and what developers must change.
AI Assistants
Claude Opus 5.5: what's new, what it costs and how it compares with Fable 5.1
Claude Opus 5.5 costs $4 and $20 per million tokens, runs over 30% faster than Opus 5 and lifts five-hour limits on Pro, Max and Team. What Anthropic says it does.
Productivity
Claude Cowork and chat merge into one Claude: what changes and who gets it first
Anthropic is merging Claude Cowork and chat into one Claude and adding Claude Docs and Slides. What changes, who gets it first and what's missing at launch.
Guides that cover Claude
Claude FAQ
Is Claude free?
Yes. Claude's free plan works on the web, desktop and mobile apps and uses the Sonnet and Haiku models. Pro ($20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually) adds Claude Code, Research, projects and access to the Opus models. The Fable models are included on Max and Ultra and run on pay-as-you-go usage credits on Pro.
What is the difference between Claude Pro, Max and Ultra?
Max costs $100 a month and gives 5× Pro's usage every five hours and every week, plus the Fable models, $100 a month in API credits, priority access at busy times and early access to new features. Ultra, which replaced Max 20×, costs $200 a month for 10× Pro's weekly usage, no five-hour limit for verified accounts and $200 a month in API credits. Pro suits regular individual use; Max and Ultra suit heavy daily use such as long coding sessions.
Who makes Claude?
Claude is made by Anthropic, an AI safety and research company founded in 2021. Anthropic released Claude to the public in March 2023.
Sources
Every fact on this page is checked against a vendor announcement, documentation or a named news report.
- Plans & pricing — Anthropichttps://claude.com/pricing
- What is the Ultra plan? — Claude Help Centerhttps://support.claude.com/en/articles/17728952-what-is-the-ultra-plan
- Introducing Claude Opus 5.5 — Anthropichttps://www.anthropic.com/claude-opus-5-5
- Anthropic newsroom — Anthropichttps://www.anthropic.com/news
- Introducing Claude — Anthropichttps://www.anthropic.com/news/introducing-claude