Claude
Safety-first AI with superior long-context understanding
Anthropic · Language Models
Launched Mar 2023
Quick Answer
Claude is safety-first ai with superior long-context understanding, made by Anthropic. It offers a free tier with paid upgrades. Key uses: Document analysis, Legal review, Research.
Last updated:
Users
~30M+ registered users (estimate, Jun 2026)
Revenue
$45B ARR (May 2026, from $9B end-2025)
Valuation
~$965B (Series H, Jun 2026); IPO filed confidentially
Growth
>400% YoY
What is Claude?
Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant focused on safety, reliability, and interpretability. Excels at long-document analysis, nuanced reasoning, and following complex instructions.
How did Claude get started?
Mar 2023: Claude 1 launched via API. Jul 2023: Claude 2 with 100K context window. Mar 2024: Claude 3 family (Haiku/Sonnet/Opus). Jun 2024: Claude 3.5 Sonnet tops coding benchmarks. Oct 2024: Computer Use. Nov 2024: Claude 3.5 Haiku. Feb 2025: Claude 3.7 Sonnet with extended thinking. May 2025: Claude 4 Opus and Sonnet — Opus leads SWE-bench. May 2026: Claude Opus 4.8 flagship. Jun 2026: IPO filed confidentially. Amazon total investment: $33B+.
What's new in Claude in 2026?
Claude Opus 4.8 (May 2026) current flagship; Claude Code GA with GitHub Actions & VS Code/JetBrains native; $45B ARR at Anthropic; IPO filed confidentially Jun 2026; API: $5/M input, $25/M output (fast mode: $10/$50); controllable effort level; Files API, MCP connector, 1-hour prompt caching
How much does Claude cost?
Free
$0/mo
- Claude Haiku 4.5 (limited)
- File uploads
- Artifacts
- Projects
- Web search
Pro
$20/mo
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 + Opus 4.8 access
- Extended thinking
- Projects with memory
- 5× usage vs Free
Team Standard
$25/seat/mo
- Everything in Pro
- Team workspace
- Admin mgmt
- Data NOT used for training
Max 5×
$100/mo
- 5× more usage than Pro
- Priority Opus 4.8 access
- Research-grade usage
Max 20×
$200/mo
- 20× more usage than Pro
- Priority all models
- Heaviest workloads
Team Premium
$125/seat/mo
- Enterprise-grade limits
- Higher priority queue
- Advanced admin
Enterprise
Custom
- Custom tiers
- SSO/SAML
- 200K+ context
- HIPAA BAA
- Priority support
What can you do with Claude?
- Document analysis
- Legal review
- Research
- Coding
Pros
- 200k+ context window
- Strong instruction following
- Constitutional AI safety
Cons
- Less plugin support
- No image generation
What are the best alternatives to Claude?
Compare Claude Head-to-Head
Frequently Asked Questions about Claude
How much does Claude cost?
Claude pricing: Free at $0/mo; Pro at $20/mo; Team Standard at $25/seat/mo; Max 5× at $100/mo; Max 20× at $200/mo; Team Premium at $125/seat/mo; Enterprise at Custom.
Is Claude free?
Claude offers a free tier with limited usage. Paid plans unlock additional features.
What is Claude used for?
Claude is used for: Document analysis, Legal review, Research, Coding.
What are the best alternatives to Claude?
Top alternatives to Claude include ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Meta AI, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini.
What platforms does Claude support?
Claude is available on: Web, iOS, Android, API, Claude Code (CLI).
Details
Underlying Models
Platforms
Integrations
Ideal For
- Legal/compliance teams
- Researchers
- Developers
- Long document analysis
- Complex instruction following
- Agentic coding